UC-NRLF 


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B   M   SD1   533 


EDUCATION  IN 
NOVA  SCOTIA  BEFORE  1811 


A  DISSERTATION 

Submitted  to  the  Faculty  of  Philosophy  of  the  Catholic  University 

of  America  in  Partial  Fulfilment  of  the  Requirements 

for  the  Degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy 


BY 
PATRICK  WILFRID  THIBEAU,  M.A. 


WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

1922 


EDUCATION  IN 
NOVA  SCOTIA  BEFORE  1811 


A  DISSERTATION 

Submitted  to  the  Faculty  of  Philosophy  of  the  Catholic  University 

of  America  in  Partial  Fulfilment  of  the  Requirements 

for  the  Degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy 


BY 
PATRICK  WILFRID  THIBEAU,  M.A, 


WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

1922 


CONTENTS 

Page 

Preface 5 

Introduction 7 

Explanatory : 11 

Chapter  I.     The  French  Period 13 

Chapter  II.     Early  British  Period,  1713-1766 32 

Chapter    III.     A    Period    of    Settlement    and    Educational    Organization, 

1766-1780 52 

Chapter  IV.     A  Period  of  Educational  Expansion,  1780-1811 79 

Chapter  V.     Education  in  Cape  Breton 107 

Conclusion 112 

Bibliography 118 


478674 


PREFACE 

Fundamental  changes  in  the  educational  policy  of  Nova 
Scotia  have  occurred  since  pioneer  days  of  settlement.  A 
well-ordered  body  of  school  law  now  provides  for  the  province 
a  system  of  public  schools  commensurate  with  modern  needs. 
Few  characteristics  of  its  origin  remain.  Professional  vision 
has  democratized  public  education  and  injected  new  purposes 
into  the  work  of  our  schools. 

The  passage  from  the  old  order  to  the  new  was  effected 
only  by  a  gradual  process.  For  many  years  ideals  in  educa- 
tional theory  and  practice  that  had  served  to  mould  and 
direct  educational  effort  in  colonial  days  continued  to  exert 
a  potent  influence  on  the  trend  of  subsequent  school  develop- 
ment in  the  province.  It  is  by  an  insight  into  their  nature 
that  a  clue  can  best  be  discovered  both  for  a  proper  grasp  of 
later  educational  problems  and  for  an  understanding  of  the 
educational  situation  in  Nova  Scotia  as  we  have  it  today. 

Coming  within  the  compass  of  the  period  reviewed  by  this 
study  are  such  controverted  points  in  historical  accuracy  as 
date  of  establishment  of  our  earliest  schools,  their  founders, 
administration  and  first  teachers;  and  such  basic  considera- 
tions as  character  of  the  early  Acadian  education,  origin  and 
administration  of  the  Nova  Scotia  school  lands,  sectarian 
motives  governing  our  original  school  policy,  and  the  growth 
of  an  awakening  consciousness  for  the  need  of  higher  educa- 
tion. These  topics  are  of  profound  import  both  from  an  his- 
torical and  institutional  viewpoint. 

After  diligent  examination  of  records,  printed  and  in  manu- 
script, the  writer  feels  justified  in  claiming  that  he  has  some- 
thing original  to  contribute  to  our  knowledge  of  the  begin- 
nings in  education  in  Nova  Scotia.  He  is  aware  of  the  exist- 
ence of  but  one  formal  work  on  the  subject — the  recent  vol- 
ume, "Public  Education  in  Nova  Scotia,"  by  James  Bingay, 
M.A.,  Supervisor  of  Schools,  Glace  Bay,  Nova  Scotia.*  This 
work  covers  the  history  of  educational  development  in  the 
province  generally  from  the  beginning  to  the  present  time. 


*Kingston,  1919. 


6  '  '  Education  W  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

Something  additional  is  contributed  by  the  present  treatise 
to  what  Mr.  Bingay  has  to  say  of  our  educational  institutions 
in  their  incipiency. 

It  has  been  brought  to  the  author's  notice  that  Dr.  Brunt, 
of  MacDonald  College,  Montreal,  has  conducted  research  sim- 
ilar to  that  pursued  by  Mr.  Bingay.  This  study,  however,  has 
not  been  published. 

Apart  from  the  work  above  named,  the  desultory  allusions 
to  educational  matters  of  the  province  found  in  political  his- 
tories present  invariably  a  rather  imperfect  and  disconnected 
view  of  the  state  of  education  in  Nova  Scotia  in  pioneer  days. 
The  writer  has  found  that  for  trustworthy  evidence  primary 
source  material  needs  to  be  consulted. 

In  bringing  this  work  to  completion  the  writer  takes  the 
opportunity  to  thank  those  who  by  helpful  suggestion,  cour- 
teous service  and  indulgent  patience  encouraged  him  in  his 
task.  He  expresses  his  gratitude  to  the  staffs  of  the  several 
libraries  in  Washington  who  rendered  courteous  assistance  in 
locating  material  pertinent  to  the  study!  To  Dr.  Walcott  of 
the  United  States  Bureau  of  Education  he  feels  particularly 
indebted  for  allowing  him  free  access  to  the  valuable  collec- 
tions of  that  Bureau.  To  Mr.  Piers,  Custodian  of  the  Public 
Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  and  Miss  Donohue,  Librarian  at  the 
Provincial  Building,  Halifax,  he  is  indebted  for  placing  at  his 
disposal  precious  manuscripts  and  rare  volumes  entrusted 
to  their  keeping.  He  particularly  acknowledges  his  indebted- 
ness to  the  several  professors  of  the  Department  of  Education 
of  the  Catholic  University  of  America,  and  recognizes  in  an 
especial  manner  the  assistance  rendered  by  Reverend  Dr.  P. 
J.  McCormick,  Professor  of  History  of  Education  at  the  same 
institution,  who  directed  the  course  of  the  work  and  on 
numerous  occasions  offered  helpful  criticism. 


INTRODUCTION 

In  Nova  Scotia,  at  the  present  time,  there  is,  in  connection 
with  readjustments  being  made  in  our  school  program  and 
the  attendant  study  of  expanding  school  functions,  a  height- 
ened interest  shown  in  the  scientific  examination  and  investi- 
gation of  fundamental  principles  upon  which  our  school  sys- 
tem is  based.  This  interest  carries  investigators  back  to  a 
time  prior  to  the  establishment  of  state  schools  and  into 
topics  that  demand  patient  and  attentive  study. 

Due  to  the  paucity  of  published  treatises  on  the  subject, 
research  of  this  nature  imposes  many  tedious  difficulties;  it 
necessitates  the  consultation  of  an  unclassified  mass  of  orig- 
inal historical  material  amongst  which  the  educational  data 
are  not  abundant ;  for  during  those  years  that  the  educational 
activity  of  the  province  remained,  more  or  less,  a  matter  of 
private  enterprise  there  was  no  necessity  for  keeping  record 
of  its  conduct.  Schools  then  were  instituted,  supported  and 
disciplined  by  itinerant  teachers  or  by  several  industrious 
persons  of  an  isolated  community  who  coordinated  their  ef- 
forts to  erect  a  school  and  hire  and  support  a  teacher,  some- 
times at  their  own  expense.  The  only  requisite  for  estab- 
lishment was  official  permission,  and  frequently  even  this  re- 
quirement was  ignored.  Sometimes,  however,  those  semipri- 
vate  institutions  made  application  for  governmental  assist- 
ance, and  in  this  way  we  are  made  aware  of  their  existence. 

Likewise,  of  the  manuscript  material  available  for  exami- 
nation, about  all  of  it  comes  under  the  broad  class  of  "his- 
torical archives."  Of  the  Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  no 
assortment  or  index  has  been  made  of  the  educational  data 
they  contain.  For  this  reason  their  examination  entails  the 
handling  of  a  mass  of  documents  productive  eventually  of  a 
small  amount  of  information  in  proportion  to  the  labor  spent. 

For  the  most  part,  however,  this  inquiry  represents  conclu- 
sions arrived  at  after  a  due  examination  of  primary  source 
material.  Part  of  the  documents  consulted  are  originals,  and 
part  facsimile  transcripts  from  the  London  and  Paris  ar- 
chives. The  evidence  of  the  latter  group  may  be  accepted  as 
being  of  equal  authority  with  the  originals.  Testimony  of  a 
second-hand  character  was  resorted  to  only  when  it  revealed 

7 


8  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

information  not  available  from  primary  sources,  and  effort 
was  always  made  in  such  cases  to  corroborate  its  validity  by 
comparison  of  statement  with  probabilities  in  the  case  and 
an  honest  effort  to  appreciate  the  reliability  of  the  author. 

The  writer's  sources  of  information  for  the  study  were 
varied.  Some  time  ago  he  pursued  research  on  the  early 
French  and  English  wars  in  Acadia  in  the  Dominion  Archives 
at  Ottawa,  Canada.  Among  the  sources  that  came  under  his 
observation  there  were  political  histories  of  Nova  Scotia  and 
Canada,  diaries,  archival  reports  and  numerous  transcripts 
from  the  Colonial  Archives,  London.  Latterly  he  pursued 
the  study  here  presented  in  the  depositories  of  the  Library  of 
Congress,  Washington,  D.  C,  and  in  the  United  States  Bureau 
of  Education  in  that  city.  Here  he  had  the  opportunity  to 
examine  again  histories,  educational  treatises,  laws,  statutes, 
and  journals  of  the  Nova  Scotia  House  of  Assembly.  The 
most  illuminating  information,  however,  resulted  from  an 
intensive  study  of  the  Public  Kecords  of  Nova  Scotia  in  the 
Public  Kecords  Office,  Halifax,  and  rare  volumes  and  files  of 
old  newspapers  in  the  Legislative  Library  at  the  same  place. 
For  the  period  under  consideration  the  Records  number  ap- 
proximately 175  volumes  averaging  500  leaves  each,  foolscap 
size.  They  comprise  books  of  Governors  of  Nova  Scotia, 
minutes  of  the  Executive  Council  and  much  miscellaneous 
correspondence  belonging  to  the  period  now  under  investiga- 
tion. 

On  account  of  the  peculiar  interrelationship  that  marks 
the  progress  of  early  church,  political  and  social  institutions 
in  Nova  Scotia,  the  writer  frequently  obtained  suggestive  and 
helpful  information  by  referring  to  documents  relating  to 
ecclesiastical  activities  in  the  province  during  that  period. 
Matter  of  this  nature  consisted  of  communications  that  passed 
between  ecclesiastical  authorities,  found  in  considerable  num- 
ber among  the  Public  Records  of  the  province,  church  and 
church  societies'  reports  and  sketches  on  church  work. 

Accessibility  to  a  comparatively  full  account  of  the  en- 
deavors of  the  Established  Church  of  England  in  Nova  Scotia 
leaves  no  doubt  as  to  the  part  played  by  that  body  in  shaping 
the  social  and  educational  life  of  the  province  in  the  era  of 


Introduction  9 

colonization.  The  praiseworthy  and  blameworthy  aspects  of 
the  educational  policy  it  pursued  can  be  established  on  the 
evidence  of  written  record.  With  the  French  missionaries  of 
the  Catholic  Church  the  case  is  different,  there  being  good 
reason  to  believe  that  there  has  never  been  any  fair  estimate 
or  appreciation  taken  of  the  educational  value  of  their  in- 
fluence among  the  French  settlers  in  Acadia. 

It  seems  evident  that  during  the  term  of  French  occupation 
the  labors  of  Catholic  religious  communities  in  the  province 
transcended  in  importance  what  was  achieved  under  govern- 
ment initiative.  The  French  clergy  instituted  the  social 
fabric  of  the  Acadians ;  and  if  we  ignore  this  important  phase 
of  their  work  we  have  nothing  to  recount  for  that  period  but 
tales  of  incessant  wars.  Since  it  was  usual  with  them  not  to 
esteem  it  part  of  their  mission  to  keep  detailed  record  of  their 
labors,  it  is  surmised,  in  the  absence  of  written  proof,  that 
the  influence  they  wielded  educationally  was  negligible. 
There  is  some  evidence,  however,  to  warrant  the  belief  that 
the  priest  did  concern  himself  with  the  educational  welfare  of 
those  entrusted  to  his  care.  As  he  was  representative  of  a 
highly  respected  authority  and  the  most  cultured  figure  among 
his  people,  it  was  but  natural  that  he  should  exert  a  domi- 
nating, cohesive  and  educational  force  in  his  community. 

In  Chapter  I,  the  French  Period,  an  attempt  is  therefore 
made  to  establish  an  appreciation  of  the  nature  of  the  in- 
formal and  the  formal  education  conducted  by  religious  or- 
ders in  Nova  Scotia  during  the  French  regime.  Through  the 
discovery  in  Keports  on  the  Canadian  Archives,  1904,  of  a 
transcribed  letter  of  Brother  Ignace  of  date  1656,  the  author 
has  been  able  to  ratify  by  information  elicited  from  an  au- 
thoritative source  the  truth  of  the  supposed  existence  of  an 
early  Capuchin  school  at  Port  Koyal  and  to  state  facts  con- 
cerning it  hitherto  not  generally  known.  In  dealing  with  this 
topic,  also,  suggestions  generously  made  by  Reverend  John 
Lenhart,  O.  M.  Cap.,  St.  Augustine  Church,  Pittsburgh,  Pa., 
proved  to  be  of  much  assistance  in  dispersing  obscurities  con- 
cerning the  situation  of  this  school  and  the  date  of  its  foun- 
dation. Likewise,  after  an  examination  of  ecclesiastical  com- 
munications of  the  period  he  has  been  able  to  add  to  our 


10  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

knowledge  of   the   school  operated  in   French  times  by  the 
Notre  Dame  Sisters  at  Louisbourg. 

Chapter  II,  Early  British  Period,  1713-1766,  covers  the 
British  Colonial  period  from  its  beginning  to  the  enactment 
of  the  first  school  law  passed  by  the  Nova  Scotia  Legislature. 
By  a  study  of  the  Reports  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation 
of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts  some  new  items  relating  to 
the  first  schools  it  instituted  in  the  province  have  been  ob- 
tained. 

Chapter  III,  A  Period  of  Settlement  and  Educational  Or- 
ganization, reviews  the  general  state  of  education  in  Nova 
Scotia  before  the  year  1780.  It  deals  with  the  question  of  the 
school  lands,  considers  the  school  law  of  1766  and  notes  the 
organization  of  schools  in  various  parts  of  the  province. 

Chapter  IV,  A  Period  of  Educational  Expansion,  considers 
the  educational  situation  in  Nova  Scotia  during  the  closing 
years  of  the  eighteenth  century,  indicating  the  developments 
favorable  to  collegiate  and  secondary  education  and  the  steady 
progress  toward  the  establishment  of  state  schools.  Obser- 
vations are  also  made  in  this  chapter  on  the  state  of  Catholic, 
Indian  and  Negro  education  and  the  influence  of  the  Loyal- 
ists on  the  founding  of  schools  in  the  province  generally. 

A  separate  chapter,  V,  takes  notice  of  educational  activities 
in  Cape  Breton  before  1811.  That  island,  though  separated 
politically  from  the  mainland  from  1784  to  1820,  was  socially 
always  intimately  associated  with  it.  For  all  practical  pur- 
poses, therefore,  its  schools  may  be  regarded  as  having  devel- 
oped conjointly  with  those  of  the  peninsula. 

Throughout  this  study  the  chronological  order  of  presenta- 
tion has  been  adhered  to  in  so  far  as  facts  permit.  In  the 
interest  of  clearness  and  easy  transition,  deviations  from  this 
strict  order  of  procedure  occur  from  time  to  time. 

In  his  treatment  and  arrangement  of  material  the  writer 
has  been  guided  throughout  by  personal  experience  as  a  pupil 
in  the  elementary  and  collegiate  schools  of  Nova  Scotia.  Ac- 
quaintance also  with  persons  prominent  in  the  educational 
life  of  the  province  has  helped  him  to  acquire  a  more  intimate 
knowledge  of  the  subject  discussed  and  has  assisted  him  in 
many  ways  in  the  preparation  of  the  work. 


EXPLANATORY 

Nova  Scotia  proper  is  a  peninsula  on  the  Atlantic  shore  of 
Canada  extending  northeast  and  southwest  from  the  Straits 
of  Canso  to  the  Bay  of  Fundy  and  joined  to  the  mainland  of 
Canada  by  the  Isthmus  of  Chignecto.  The  Province  of  Nova 
Scotia  comprises  this  peninsula  and  the  adjacent  island  of 
Cape  Breton. 

Nova  Scotia  formed  part  of  Acadia  or  Acadie — a  name  ap- 
plied by  the  French  to  the  great  stretch  of  land  that  lay  be- 
tween their  settlements  on  the  lower  reaches  of  the  St.  Law- 
rence River  and  the  Gaspian  peninsula  eastward  to  the  At- 
lantic Ocean;  and  from  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  to  approxi- 
mately the  Penobscot  River  in  the  State  of  Maine.  Its  bound- 
aries were  never  definitely  determined  by  either  the  French 
or  the  English. 

In  1621,  Acadia  was  taken  formal  possession  of  by  Great 
Britain,  the  reigning  sovereign,  James  I,  conferring  it  as  a 
baronetcy  on  the  Scottish  knight,  Sir  William  Alexander. 
For  many  years  right  to  the  territory  was  in  dispute,  but 
finally  by  the  treaty  of  Utrecht,  1713,  France  relinquished 
her  claim  to  Nova  Scotia,  reserving,  of  her  original  posses- 
sions on  the  Atlantic  shore  of  New  France,  Cape  Breton  Is- 
land and  Isle  St.  Jean  (Prince  Edward  Island). 

The  King  of  England  administered  the  government  of  the 
newly  acquired  territory  through  a  representative  stationed 
at  Annapolis,  Nova  Scotia,  until  1749,  when  the  seat  of  gov- 
ernment was  transferred  to  the  new  settlement  founded  at 
Halifax  in  that  year.  In  1763,  by  the  Treaty  of  Paris,  France 
renounced  in  favor  of  Britain  all  that  remained  of  her  former 
possessions  in  New  France;  and  Cape  Breton  Island  and  Isle 
St.  Jean  came  under  the  direct  supervision  of  the  government 
at  Halifax. 

The  southern  extremity  of  ancient  Acadia  having  been  ab- 
sorbed in  the  State  of  Maine,  that  remaining  part  of  it  west 
of  Chignecto  was  constituted,  in  1784,  into  a  separate  province 

11 


12  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

called  New  Brunswick.  Cape  Breton,  erected  into  a  separate 
province  the  same  year,  was,  in  1820,  reestablished  as  a  polit- 
ical adjunct  of  Nova  Scotia,  the  two  henceforth  forming  one 
governmental  unit  with  the  seat  of  administration  at  Hali- 
fax. Isle  St.  Jean  was  granted  excision  from  greater  Nova 
Scotia  in  1768  and  its  name  changed  to  Prince  Edward  Island. 


CHAPTER  I 

THE   FRENCH   PERIOD 

The  standard-bearers  of  pioneer  educational  effort  in  Nova 
Scotia  were  missionaries  of  the  Catholic  Church.  Both  in 
informal  and  institutional  methods  of  teaching  they  led  the 
way.  Primarily  they  were  intent  on  the  conversion  of  the 
savages  and  the  maintenance  of  religious  discipline  and  ob- 
servance among  the  French  Acadian  peasantry.  But  they 
were  not  unmindful  of  the  admonition  of  the  Church,  that  her 
jewels  are  not  to  be  cast  before  swine.  With  unyielding  perse- 
verance they  labored  unremittingly  to  sow  and  bring  to  fructi- 
fication the  seeds  of  a  liberal  Christian  discipline,  and  the 
success  they  achieved  entitles  them  to  recognition  as  the  orig- 
inal teachers  of  Nova  Scotia. 

The  instruction  given  by  the  missionaries  was  first  of  all 
religious,  and  hence  moral.  It  did  not  concern  itself  with 
the  mechanics  of  teaching,  but  it  demanded  practice  and  hence 
expression.  Of  the  Acadian  it  made  an  individual  of  re- 
markable moral  character,  and  it  subdued  the  Indian  by  teach- 
ing him  how  to  curb  his  savage  instincts.  These  beneficial 
results  were  attained  by  a  method  of  general  religious  disci- 
pline and  teaching.  For  this  reason  it  is  difficult  to  appre- 
ciate at  this  date  the  true  educational  character  of  the  work 
done  by  the  French  priests  in  Acadia.  Evidence  of  it,  how- 
ever, is  still  to  be  seen  in  the  rectitude  of  life  characteristic 
of  the  Acadian  and  in  the  submissive  docility  of  the  Indian. 

It  is  usually  said  that  the  French  pioneers  in  Acadia  were 
an  extremely  ignorant  class  of  people,  that  they  had  no  con- 
ception of  the  higher  branches  of  learning,  and  that  their 
knowledge  of  even  the  elements  of  education  was  very  defi- 
cient. It  is  admitted,  however,  that  in  the  daily  conduct  of 
their  lives  they  observed  a  moral  code  and  practiced  a  recip- 
rocal relationship  most  edifying  to  a  Christian  community. 
In  the  light  of  modern  educational  conceptions  these  two 
statements  do  not  perfectly  harmonize.  Such  exemplary 
conduct  must  necessarily  rest  on  a  foundation  of  education 
and  breeding.     No  doubt  the  Acadians,  when  we  compare  their 

13 


14  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

scholastic  attainments  with  those  obtaining  in  our  day,  were 
deficient  in  the  mastery  of  the  mechanics  of  education.  But 
this  does  not  necessarily  imply  that  they  were  void  of  all  cul- 
tural qualities.  The  moral  courage  that  they  manifested  in 
their  way  of  living  betokened  the  enjoyment  of  an  educational 
discipline  and  the  functioning  of  ethical  principles  taught 
them  as  necessary  corollaries  to  the  religion  they  professed. 

The  unqualified  assertion  sometimes  made,  that  the  Aca- 
dians  were  obstinate  because  they  were  ignorant,  is  erroneous. 
More  proper  would  it  be  to  attribute  their  attitude  to  loyalty 
to  their  institutions,  particularly  the  Church.  As  records 
abundantly  show,  the  object  of  the  conquerors  was,  in  the 
first  instance,  to  proselytize.  This  motive  the  Acadians  re- 
sented, for  they  loved  and  respected  their  Church  and  her 
missionaries.  The  welfare  of  their  priests  they  held  above  all 
other  considerations.  In  the  report  of  the  interview  between 
Governor  Cornwallis  and  the  Acadian  delegates  in  1749  this 
solicitude  is  well  shown.1  Their  first  concern  on  that  occa- 
sion was  the  fate  of  their  priests.  Experience  had  taught  the 
Acadians  that  the  motives  which  drew  the  missionaries  to 
Acadia  were  inspired  neither  by  greed  of  gain  nor  hope  of 
political  preferment;  and  they  rejoiced  that  amid  the  bewil- 
dering dictates  of  a  shifting  authority  they  could  at  least  re- 
pose trust  in  their  clergy. 

Among  the  Indians,  no  less  than  among  the  French,  the 
priest  was  held  in  high  esteem.  With  the  converted  tribes 
his  authority  ranked  with,  if  it  did  not  exceed,  that  of  the 
chief.  The  Micmacs,  who  eventually  were  all  converted  to 
Catholicism,  regarded  him  as  the  benefactor  of  their  tribe  and 
to  this  day  cherish  in  affectionate  remembrance  the  traditions 
regarding* the  apostolic  pioneers  of  the  faith  who  were  the 
means  of  their  conversion.2  The  Micmac  Indians  are  a  re- 
sentful and  sensitive  people.  The  fact  that  they  have  so  long 
retained  such  a  marvelous  devotion  for  the  priest  is  significant 
of  the  tender  care  they  formerly  received  at  his  hands. 

To  effect  such  a  remarkable  transformation  in  a  savage  peo- 
ple the  missionaries  must  have  taught  religious  doctrine  pru- 

i  Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  209,  p.  9. 

2  See  The  Missionary,  Apostolic  Mission  House,  Washington,  D.  C, 
Feb.,  1921,  p.  41  et  seq. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  15 

dently  and  effectively.  The  result  achieved  vindicates  also 
the  virtue  of  religion  as  an  educating  medium  and  compels  us 
to  consider  this  fact  when  we  attempt  to  form  an  adequate 
conception  of  the  educational  attainments  of  the  Acadians.  In- 
formation of  this  nature  is  not  to  be  found  inscribed  in  offi- 
cial communiques  of  the  time,  for  the  subject  is  one  that  by 
nature  is  not  reducible  to  written  fact.  Though  it  may  be 
admitted  that  the  Acadians  were,  on  the  whole,  illiterate  it 
may,  on  the  other  hand,  be  urged  that  aptitude  to  manipulate 
the  mechanics  of  scholastic  learning  is  not  a  necessary  con- 
comitant of  education.  Formation  of  nobility  of  character  is 
the  true  office  of  an  effective  education. 

Turning  to  written  records,  we  find  them  not  entirely  bar- 
ren of  evidence  conducive  to  the  belief  that  the  clergy  con- 
tinued to  exercise  pedagogical  functions  among  the  Acadian 
French  when  adversity  had  removed  from  them  all  other 
means  of  instruction.  When  years  after  the  conquest  the 
Acadians  were,  on  several  occasions,  called  upon  to  subscribe 
to  various  forms  of  oaths  and  papers  submitted  by  the  Eng- 
lish for  endorsement,  approximately  60  per  cent  were  capable 
of  signing  their  own  names.  Since  those  signatories  had 
never  gone  beyond  the  confines  of  Acadia  they  must  neces- 
sarily have  acquired  this  accomplishment  within  the  shadow 
of  their  own  homes  and  presumably  through  the  good  offices 
of  their  own  priests.3  It  is  an  indication  also  that  the  Aca- 
dians were  not  wholly  unacquainted  with  the  rudiments  of  a 
school  education,  and  it  is  a  tradition  still  preserved  among 
them  that  their  original  ancestors  in  Nova  Scotia  numbered 
among  themselves  men  who  were  well  schooled. 

The  first  permanent  settlement  of  the  French  in  Nova 
Scotia  was  made  at  Port  Koyal,  now  Annapolis,  in  1605. 
From  this  point  as  a  center  they  gradually  extended  them- 
selves over  the  fertile  lands  adjoining.  Progress,  however, 
was  slow,  and  for  a  long  time  their  advance  was  uncertain 
and  haphazard.  In  fact,  France,  after  more  than  a  century 
of  occupation,  left  Acadia  to  the  English  in  1713  almost  as 
she  had  found  it.    What  are  now  the  centers  of  population  in 


3  Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  6. 


16  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

the  province   were  still   resplendent   in   primeval   loveliness. 
The  cause  is  apparent. 

France  was  in  continual  difficulties  in  Europe.  England 
was  her  greatest  rival,  and  this  gave  rise  to  incessant  petty 
warfare  between  their  colonists  in  North  America.  Left  to 
themselves  the  Acadians  were  too  beset  with  difficulties  to 
look  to  more  than  the  satisfaction  of  their  physical  needs. 
Their  physical  surroundings  in  a  country  as  yet  untouched 
by  the  hand  of  man  made  unusual  demands  on  them.  It  re- 
quired their  most  vigorous  exertions  to  provide  food  and 
shelter  for  themselves  and  their  dependents.  Most  distress- 
ing of  all,  they  were  subjected  to  the  tyranny  of  a  villainous 
band  of  administrators  who,  sheltered  by  the  security  which 
distance  and  isolation  afforded,  practiced  high-handed  rapac- 
ity with  impunity.  Moreover,  the  attacks  of  the  unconverted 
savages  had  to  be  guarded  against,  while  the  depredations  of 
New  England  privateers  were  no  less  annoying.  The  cumu- 
lative effect  of  these  several  circumstances  was  to  render  the 
French  settlements  in  Acadia  inconstant  and  shiftless  and 
expansion  precarious. 

The  population  of  Acadia  is  computed  to  have  been  400  in 
1671.4  M.  de  Meulles,  Intendant  of  New  France  in  1686,  has 
left  us  a  census  of  Acadia  for  that  year.  The  figures  are 
based  on  observations  made  in  the  course  of  a  personal  visit 
and  may  therefore  be  accepted  as  reliable.  His  estimate  of 
the  number  of  French  people  in  Acadia  is  885,  distributed 
over  the  territory  as  follows:  Port  Royal,  592;  Cape  Sable, 
15;  Port  La  Heve  and  Merliguaiche,  19;  Baie  de  Mines,  57; 
Riviere  St.  Jean,  Pesmouquody,  Megays  and  Pentagouet,  16; 
Beaubassin,  127;  Riviere  Miramichy,  Chedabouctou  de  Nepi- 
siquy  and  de  l'lsle  Percee,  59.  A  few  more  settlements  were 
made  before  the  end  of  that  century.  In  1710,  Governor  Vetch 
reported  to  the  British  Government  the  number  of  people  in 
Port  Royal,  including  those  within  cannon  shot  of  the  fort, 
to  be  500.5 

In  1714,  he  estimated  the  whole  French  population  of  Nova 


4  Brown,  Georgs  S.,  Yarmouth,  Nova  Scotia.     Rand  Avery  Company, 
Printers,  Boston,  1888,  p.  122. 
e  Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vols.  2,  5. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  17 

Scotia  at  2,500;  and  the  Recollet  missionary,  Felix  Pain, 
states  that  on  the  same  date  there  were  583  people  at  Port 
Royal  and  1,103  at  Minas.6  These  figures  do  not  take  into 
account  the  number  of  people  settled  on  Cape  Breton  Island. 
In  Vetch's  report,  referred  to  above,  belief  is  expressed  that 
there  were  then  as  many  people  in  Cape  Breton  as  on  the 
whole  peninsula  of  Nova  Scotia.  But  the  estimate  of  an- 
other authority,  720,  is  probably  more  correct.7 

The  Capuchin  Schools  at  La  Heve  and  Port  Royal. — From 
1615  to  1629  the  Recollets  controlled  the  missions  in  Acadia. 
They  left  on  the  latter  date,  when  Port  Royal  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  English.  On  restoration  of  the  country  to 
France  by  the  treaty  of  Saint-Germain-en-Laye  in  1632,  Car- 
dinal Richelieu,  as  chief  of  the  Compagnie  des  Cent  Associes, 
called  upon  the  Capuchins,  another  branch  of  the  Franciscan 
Order,  to  reclaim  the  field  lately  relinquished  by  their  breth- 
ren in  New  France.  The  whole  of  Acadia  was  transferred  to 
their  charge  and  six  members  of  the  order  from  the  province 
of  Paris  prepared  to  accompany  the  newly  appointed  gover- 
nor, Isaac  de  Razilly,  to  Acadia.8  To  them  belongs  the  dis- 
tinction of  having  established  the  first  school  known  to  exist 
in  Nova  Scotia. 

Sailing  from  France  in  midsummer,  1632,  Razilly  arrived 
at  La  Heve  on  the  eastern  shore  of  Nova  Scotia  early  in  Au- 
gust. No  time  was  lost  by  the  Capuchins.  They  began  to 
lay  the  foundation  of  their  mission  immediately  and  before 
the  end  of  the  year  were  "inhabiting  two  houses  or  hospices, 
one  at  Port  Royal  and  one  at  La  Heve  (Portus  Mariae)."9 
"As  soon  as  circumstances  permitted,"  writes  their  historian, 
"the  Capuchins  established  their  first  Indian  School  at  La 
Heve  and  called  it,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  times,  a 
Seminary.     The  exact  date  of  the  foundation  is  not  known. 


e  ma.,  Vol.  3. 

7  Canada  and  Its  Provinces,  Shortt  &  Doughty,  25  Vols.,  Toronto, 
1913,  Vol.  1,  p.  209. 

8Lenhart,  Reverend  John,  O.  M.  Cap.,  The  Capuchins  in  Acadia  and 
Northern  Maine.  Records  of  the  American  Historical  Society  of  Phila- 
delphia, Vol.  27,  No.  3,  September,  1916,  p.  201. 

» Relation  of  the  work  of  the  Capuchins  in  Acadia  submitted  to 
Propaganda,  July  19,  1632:  extant  in  Archivio  di  Prop.  Fide,  Atti  VoL 
8,  No.  6,  f.  269.  Quoted  by  Lenhart,  op.  cit.,  p.  208;  by  Cesinale,  III,  p. 
677,  note  4. 


18  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

The  Rev.  D.  McPherson  makes  it  contemporary  with  the 
Jesuit  Huron  college  at  Quebec.  'About  1635/  he  writes,  'the 
Capuchins  opened  their  college  at  Port  Royal.'  Father  Can- 
dide  favors  a  somewhat  later  date.  'It  seems  to  me/  he  says, 
'that  the  construction  of  the  Seminary  at  Port  Royal  must  be 
placed  after  Razilly's  death  (1635).  It  was  certainly  started 
before  1635,  and,  consequently,  preceded  the  Quebec  semi- 
nary, the  fruit  of  the  same  thought,  of  the  same  devotedness, 
and  of  the  same  apostolic  spirit.'  Very  probably  it  was  be- 
gun about  1633  in  La  Heve,  and  in  1636  transferred  to  Port 
Royal."10 

Rather  convincing  evidence  in  support  of  the  latter  view  is 
deducible  from  a  knowledge  of  the  conversion  policy  advo- 
cated by  Cardinal  Richelieu  at  this  time  as  revealed  in  the 
instructions  he  and  Pere  Joseph,  Prefect-Apostolic  of  all  the 
French  Capuchin  missions,  had  given  the  Acadian  mission- 
aries on  the  eve  of  their  departure  from  France.  Richelieu 
believed  that  progress  in  conversion  of  the  Indians  would  be 
facilitated  by  beginning  with  the  education  of  their  children 
in  boarding  schools.11  Later  on,  these  children  having  ac- 
quired a  certain  mastery  of  elementary  learning  and  Chris- 
tian doctrine,  could  be  returned  to  their  parents  and  ad- 
vantage taken  of  their  influence  in  inducing  the  natives  gen- 
erally to  embrace  Christianity.  Father  Pacifique  points  out 
that  "Cardinal  Richelieu  had  given  explicit  orders  (to  the 
Capuchins  in  Acadia)  to  civilize  the  Indians  by  giving  them 
a  regular  course  of  instruction,"  and  expresses  the  opinion 
that  "for  this  reason  the  Fathers  could  not  delay  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  'Seminary'  both  for  training  and  civilizing  In- 
dians alongside  French  children  for  such  a  long  time."12 

The  small  amount  of  data  extant  precludes  possibility  of 
obtaining  extensive  information  concerning  the  operation  of 
the  school  at  La  Heve  during  Razilly's  administration.  The 
initial  success  attending  the  efforts  of  the  Capuchins  during 


io  Lenhart,  Rev.  John,  op.  cit.,  Vol.  27,  No.  3,  pp.  223-224. 

ii  Ibid.,  p.  222. 

12  Private  correspondence  of  the  writer  with  Rev.  John  Lenhart, 
O.  M.  Cap.,  St.  Augustine  Church,  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  of  date  Nov.  7,  1921. 
Information  on  this  point  also  obtained  through  correspondence  with 
Rev.  Father  Pacifique,  O.M.  Cap.,  Restigouche,  Bonaventure  Co.,  P.  Q. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  19 

this  time,  however,  is  attested  to  by  a  memoir  submitted  to 
Cardinal  Richelieu  by  Governor  Eazilly  on  July  15,  1634.  In 
this  document  he  states: 

Lesquels  (the  Capuchins)  par  leurs  examples  .  .  .  nous  ont 
si  bien  conduits  que  par  la  grace  de  Dieu  le  vice  ne  regne 
point  en  cette  habitation;  et  depuis  que  j'y  suis,  je  n'ai  pas 
trouve  lieu  de  chatiment:  la  charite  et  l'amitie  y  sont  sans 
contrainte.13 

As  to  the  Indians,  he  says: 

lis  se  soumettoient  de  leur  franche  volonte  a  toutes  les  lois 
qu'on  vouloit  leur  imposer,  soit  divines  soit  humaines,  recon- 
noissant  Sa  Majeste  Tres-Chretienne  pour  le  roi.14 

Razilly  died  in  1635,  leaving  the  administration  of  affairs 
in  Acadia  to  his  associate,  D'Aunay  de  Charnisay.  From  La 
Heve,  D'Aunay  moved  his  headquarters,  in  the  same  year,  to 
Port  Royal  which  thereafter  became  also  the  center  of  Capu- 
chin activities.  As  we  have  noted,  in  1636  they  transferred 
the  Seminary  to  the  same  locality.  Available  information 
concerning  its  subsequent  progress  is  more  abundant  than  for 
the  preceding  period  of  its  history.  It  indicates  that  its  ac- 
tivities were  those  appertaining  to  a  real  school  in  which  the 
common  branches  of  learning  were  taught.  Historically, 
Father  Lenhart  concedes  to  it  the  position  of  first  high  school 
within  the  confines  of  New  France.15  It  enjoys  the*  addi- 
tional distinction  of  being  contemporaneous  with  the  earliest 
schools  of  New  England. 

D'Aunay  seems  to  have  been  a  more  capable  governor  than 
his  predecessor.  He  administered  affairs  in  Acadia  with 
firmness  while  extending  a  providential  and  paternal  hand  to 
the  struggling  Capuchin  foundations.  For  the  support  of  the 
missions  in  New  France,  Cardinal  Richelieu,  in  1635,  con- 
tributed 17,000  livres  of  personal  funds;  yet  had  it  not  been 
for  the  gallant  efforts  of  D'Aunay  the  Seminary  at  Port  Royal 
would  have  been  obliged  to  close  for  lack  of  means.16  At 
Port  Royal,  the  Governor  reserved  for  its  maintenance  a  con- 


"Quoted  by  Moreau,  M.   [Celestin],  Histoire  de  VAcadie  Francaise, 
Paris,  1873,  pp.  134-135. 
14  ibid.,  p.  135. 

is  Lenhart,  Rev.  John,  op.  cit.,  Vol.  27,  No.  3,  p.  224. 
ia  Ibid.,  pp.  207,  224. 


20  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

siderable  extent  of  ground  which  the  Fathers  of  the  mission 
were  permitted  to  cultivate  for  their  own  use.  Dwelling  on 
this  point  Rameau  says:  "...  aussi  consacra-t-il  (D'Aunay) 
une  somme  importante  k  leur  accroissement,  car  il  consider- 
ait  Tetablissement  des  missions  comme  une  des  necessites 
premieres  de  toute  formation  sociale."17 

Concerning  the  establishment  of  the  Seminary  and  the  re- 
lationship that  existed  between  it  and  D'Aunay,  Rameau  pro- 
ceeds to  say: 

On  avait  done  construit  par  ses  ordres,  &  Port-Royal,  une 
sorte  de  monastere  que  Ton  appelait  dans  le  pays  le  Seminaire, 
dans  lequel  il  avait  installe  douze  Recollets,  et  il  y  avait 
annexe  une  Vendue  de  terre  assez  considerable,  qui  put  sub- 
venir  ult^rieurement  aux  besoins  de  ces  religieux;  ceux-ci 
d'autre  part  s'6taient  obliges,  non-seulement  a  desservir  la 
colonie  frangaise  et  a  faire  des  missions  parmi  les  peuplades 
indigenes,  mais  encore  &  recevoir,  entretenir  et  instruire  dans 
leur  maison  trente  jeunes  gens  et  enfants  micmacs  ou  abenekis 
afin  de  propager  plus  aisement  dans  la  contree  la  connaissance 
de  la  religion  et  les  premiers  elements  de  la  civilisation;  e'est 
pourquoi  cet  6tablissement  est  appele  le  Seminaire  dans  les 
documents  du  temps.18 

Rameau  here  confuses  the  Recollets  with  the  Capuchins. 
That  it  was  the  Capuchins  and  not  the  Recollets  who  con- 
ducted the  school  at  Port  Royal,  has  been  demonstrated  by 
Moreau  and  is  substantiated,  also,  by  the  writings  of  D'Aunay. 
"D'Aunay  informs  us  in  his  Memoir  that  in  1643  the  Capu- 
chins were  instructing  thirty  baptized  Indian  children  in 
their  seminaries.  These  were  Micmacs  and  Abenakis  (Algon- 
quins).  Besides  these  thirty  inmates,"  he  says,  "the  Capu- 
chins were  instructing  a  number  of  externs,  both  French  and 
Indians."19  The  validity  of  this  opinion  is  usually  accepted 
by  historians  writing  on  Acadia.  At  that  date,  however,  a 
few  Recollets  were  to  be  found  in  the  country. 

D'Aunay's  memoir  referred  to  above  shows  that  the  Capu- 
chin Seminary  was  meeting  the  terms  of  the  contract  made 


"Rameau,  M.  [St.  Edme],  Une  Colonie  Fe'odale  en  Amtrique,  Paris, 
1877,  p.  88. 

"Rameau,  M.  [St.  Edme],  op.  cit.,  p.  89;  Gosselin,  L'Abbe  A.,  La 
Mission  Du  Canada  avant  Mgr.  De  Laval,  Evreux,  1909,  pp.  108-109. 

i»  Lenhart,  Rev.  John,  op.  cit.,  Vol.  27,  No.  3,  p.  224. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  21 

with  the  Governor  and  Richelieu.  The  original  six  teachers 
and  missionaries  had  by  1648  increased  to  twelve.20  The  day 
scholars  or  externs  were  both  French  and  Indian  children, ' 
usually  from  the  settlement  and  vicinity;  the  interns,  called 
in  the  documents  of  the  time,  pensionnaires,  were  from  more 
distant  places.  On  Sunday,  the  teachers  and  pupils  were  ac- 
customed to  congregate  in  the  Governor's  manor  house, 
whence  all  proceeded  to  church.  Rameau,  borrowing  from 
the  Relation  of  Ignace  of  Paris  of  date  1653,  describes  thus 
the  procession  on  those  occasions: 

Le  seigneur  arrivait  de  son  cote,  sortant  du  manoir  avec  sa 
femme  ainsi  ses  nombreux  enfants,  dont  1'aine,  Joseph,  avait 
deja  14  ans  en  1650  (the  year  of  D'Aunay's  death),  et  les 
capucins,  qui  au  nombre  de  douze  tenaient  le  seminaire  des 
sauvages,  formaient  cortege.  Avec  leurs  trente  pensionnaires 
et  avec  les  enfants  du  pays  qu'ils  tenaient  en  ecole,  ils  arri- 
vaient  en  rang  prendre  place  a  l'eglise.21 

Although  the  school  was  of  rude  proportion  and  design,  the 
instruction  it  imparted  was  not  of  an  inferior  sort.  In  1645, 
an  Indian  student  from  the  Seminary  was  taken  to  France. 
His  appearance  pleased  royalty  exceedingly,  the  Queen  herself 
finding  him  sufficiently  learned  to  confer  on  him  a  commis- 
sion to  return  to  Acadia  and  assist  in  the  conversion  of  his 
people.22  Two  years  later,  in  granting  the  Lettres  Patentes 
to  D'Aunay,  King  Louis  makes  mention  of  the  dutiful  service 
rendered  by  his  representative  in  Acadia,  commending  him 
on  the  fact  that  he  had  borne  the  entire  expense  of  the  estab- 
lishment, supporting  even  the  seminaries  for  teaching  the  In- 
dians.23 

The  unusual  solicitude  shown  by  the  Governor  for  the  per- 
petuation of  the  seminary  schools  at  Port  Royal  naturally 
provokes  the  question  whether  he  had  any  concealed  interest 
in  their  success.  Up  to  1643  he  had  expended^  upwards  of 
400,000  livres  in  the  administration  of  Acadia,  no  small  part 
of  which  had  been  devoted  to  the  schools  and  missions.24     It 


2oMoreau,  M.  [Celestin],  op.  cit.,  p.  249. 

21  Rameau,  M.  [St.  Edme],  op.  cit.,  p.  100. 

22  Lenhart,  Rev.  John,  op.  cit.,  Vol.  27,  No.  3,  p.  225. 
23Moreau,  M.   [Celestin],  op.  cit.,    p.  243. 

24  ibid.,  p.  242. 


22  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

has  been  shown,  however,  that  apart  from  the  religious  zeal 
that  actuated  both  the  teachers  of  the  seminaries  and 
D'Aunay,  their  interests  were  otherwise  mutually  distinct. 
Perhaps  D'Aunay,  who  from  all  accounts  was  a  man  endowed 
with  strong  judgment  and  possessed  of  a  deep  sense  of  duty, 
esteemed  the  worth  of  the  educational  facilities  afforded  his 
children  by  the  Capuchin  institutions.  To  provide  for  their 
maintenance  he  regarded  probably  as  part  of  his  obligations. 
Our  authority,  Rameau,  expresses  this  thought  when  he  says: 
"D'Aunay  (bon  juge  en  ces  matieres)  avait  su  apprecier  leurs 
services,  efficaces  et  modestes."25 

D'Aunay  had  eight  children — four  boys  and  four  girls.26 
The  boys  received  their  instruction  in  the  Indian  school  for 
boys,  while  the  girls  enjoyed  similar  privileges  in  the  Abenaki 
seminary  for  girls. 

When  the  girls'  school  was  opened,  the  records  of  the  time 
do  not  divulge.  The  Capuchin  reports  on  the  missions  in 
Acadia  in  1641  apprise  us  of  the  appointment  in  that  year  of 
Madame  de  Brice  D'Auxerre,  directress  of  the  school.27  In- 
ferentially  they  give  evidence  conducive  to  the  belief  that  the 
institution  had  already  been  in  existence  for  some  time.  The 
directress  seems  to  have  been  a  person  of  considerable  impor- 
tance in  the  Port  Royal  mission.  In  the  documents  of  the 
period  she  is  described  as  a  person  "distinguished  for  her 
piety,  zeal  and  wisdom."28  She  had  two  sons,  Leonard  and 
Paschal  de  Brice  D'Auxerre,  both  of  whom  joined  the  Capu- 
chin Order  and  subsequently  engaged  in  mission  work  with 
their  brethren  in  Acadia.29  She  was  the  guardian  of 
D'Aunay's  daughters  during  the  troublous  years  that  marked 
the  close  of  his  administration,  and  after  his  death  in  1650 
became  their  protectress. 

From  what  can  be  ascertained  of  the  school,  it  is  known 
that,  like  the  boys'  seminary,  it  contained  both  intern  and 


2BRameau,  M.  [St.  Edme],  op.  cit.,  p.  88. 

MMoreau,  M.  [Celestin],  op.  cit.,  p.  247.  Ignace  of  Paris  in  his  Rela- 
tion of  1656  says  D'Aunay  had  "three  daughters  and  as  many  boys." 

27Lenhart,  Rev.  John,  op.  cit.,  Vol.  27,  No.  3,  p.  227. 

28  Letter  of  Ignace  of  Paris,  Archives  of  Propaganda,  Rome,  dated 
1656;  reprinted  in  Reports  on  the  Canadian  Archives,  Ottawa,  1904, 
p.  337  et  seq. 

2»  Lenhart,  Rev.  John,  op.  cit.,  Vol.  28,  No.  1,  March,  1917,  pp.  53,  57. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  23 

extern  pupils.  Existing  documents  do  not  reveal  their  num- 
ber, but  they  show  that  the  practice  prevailing  in  the  boys 
school  of  placing  French  and  Indian  children  on  the  same 
benches  was  observed  here  also.30  Under  Madame  de  Brice's 
supervision  the  girls'  seminary  endured  twelve  years.  It  dis- 
appears amid  the  devastation  that  overtook  Port  Royal  in 
1652. 

After  the  death  of  D'Aunay  in  1650  the  missions  suffered 
severely  from  dissension  occasioned  by  the  conflict  of  rival 
claimants  for  control  in  Acadia.  In  1652,  a  French  trader 
named  Le  Borgne,  to  whom  D'Aunay  had  fallen  under  finan- 
cial obligation,  seized  Port  Royal.31  Sixteen  members  of  the 
Capuchin  Order — ten  fathers  and  six  lay-brothers — were  at 
that  time  laboring  in  New  France.32  Two  of  them,  the  Vener- 
able Father  Cosma  De  Mentes  and  Father  Gabriel  De  Join- 
ville,  he  expelled  along  with  Madame  de  Brice,  detaining  them 
on  his  ships  for  five  whole  months.33 

This  unfortunate  occurrence,  however,  failed  to  crush  the 
enterprising  spirit  of  the  missionaries.  They  returned  soon 
afterwards  and  re-established  the  boys'  school  at  Port  Royal. 
When  the  settlement  was  seized  by  the  English  colonial  forces 
in  1654,  the  Abenaki  seminary  was  being  conducted  by  Rever- 
end Father  Leonard,  of  Chartres,  assisted  by  Father  Yvo,  of 
Paris,  and  by  two  lay-brothers,  also  of  the  Capuchin  Order — 
Brother  John  of  Troyes  and  Brother  Francis  Mary  of  Paris.34 
The  invaders  burned  their  church  and  with  it  likely  the  hum- 
ble school.35  In  the  records  it  is  stated  that  after  the  capitu- 
lation, signed  by  the  Superior  himself  in  the  interest  of  the 
mission,  the  English  violated  its  provisions,  putting  Father 
Leonard  to  death  and  banishing  his  assistants.  The  latter 
were  compelled  to  seek  refuge  in  France.36    Two  years  after- 


30  Lenhart,  Rev.  John,  op.  cit.,  Vol.  27,  No.  3,  September,  1916,  p.  227. 

si  Ignace,  Brother,  op.  cit.  Lenhart,  relying  on  the  authority  of  the 
original  text,  places  the  date  of  this  event  at  1653:  see  Records  of  the 
American  Historical  Society  of  Philadelphia,  Vol.  27,  No  3,  September, 
1916,  p.  228. 

32  Lenhart,  Rev.  John,  op.  cit.,  Vol.  28,  No.  1,  March,  1917,  p.  48. 

"Ignace,  Brother,  op.  cit. 

34  ibid. 

35  Canada  and  Its  Provinces,  Vol.  13,  p.  41. 

se  Ignace,  Brother,  op.  cit. ;  Lenhart,  Rev.  John,  op.  cit.,  Vol.  28,  No. 
1,  March,  1917,  p.  57. 


24  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

wards,  according  to  the  Relation  of  Brother  Ignace,  there 
were  no  representatives  of  the  Capuchins  in  Acadia.  An  ap- 
peal was  made  for  their  return,  but  the  continued  presence  of 
the  English  on  the  Acadian  coast  and  their  decisive  capture  of 
Port  Koyal  in  1690  put  an  end,  eventually,  to  whatever  evanes- 
cent hopes  the  Capuchins  entertained  of  resuming  their  colle- 
giate work  at  Port  Koyal.37 

Throughout  twenty  or  more  years  of  existence,  from  1633  to 
1654,  the  Capuchin  seminaries  in  Acadia  performed  the  dou- 
ble service  of  providing  educational  facilities  for  the  French 
and  native  children  and  keeping  alive  the  spark  of  learning 
in  the  remote  colony.  Considering  the  distracted  state  of  the 
country  in  which  their  lot  was  cast  and  the  many  difficulties 
they  had  to  encounter,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  success 
they  achieved  was  not  commensurate  with  the  most  sanguine 
expectations  of  Cardinal  Kichelieu.  He,  we  believe,  expected 
too  much  in  a  short  time.  To  educate  the  Indian  was  neither 
an  easy  nor  a  pleasant  task;  yet  in  the  system  they  devised 
and  the  methods  they  adopted  in  their  seminaries  at  Port 
Royal  the  Capuchins  were  the  first  in  New  France  to  demon- 
strate how  this  work  could  best  be  pursued. 

In  their  arduous  task,  the  Capuchin  Fathers  found  valuable 
assistants  in  the  lay-brethren  of  the  order.  Some  of  the  lat- 
ter, having  acquired  a  remarkable  fluency  in  the  Indian  dia- 
lect, were  of  great  service  in  the  schools. 

No  complete  list  of  the  Capuchin  laborers  in  Acadia  during 
this  period  has  come  down  to  us.  The  names  of  twenty-three 
clergymen  and  nine  lay-brotbers  survive.  Some  of  them  per- 
ished in  the  discharge  of  their  duties  in  the  colony;  others 
were  obliged  to  leave  from  sheer  destitution  and  still  others 
were  banished  from  the  country  when  it  changed  owners.38 

France  remained  in  titular  possession  of  Acadia  for  half  a 
century  after  the  dismemberment  of  the  Port  Royal  school, 
but  there  is  no  evidence  that  the  missionaries  attempted  its 
re-establishment.  Port  Royal,  as  the  metropolis  of  popula- 
tion, was  the  logical  situation  for  a  school;  but  its  security 
was  thereafter  fraught  with  so  much  uncertainty  that  it  is 


3T  ignace,  Brother,  op.  cit. 

"Lenhart,  Rev.  John,  op.  cit.,  Vol.  28,  No.  1,  March,  1917,  p.  47  et  seq. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  25 

probable  the  missionaries  did  not  deem  it  wise  or  expedient 
to  repeat  the  venture. 

In  1713,  France  definitely  relinquished  her  claims  to  Acadia, 
the  interest  of  the  French  priests  being  confined  thereafter 
chiefly  to  the  discharge  of  their  religious  functions  amongst 
the  French  inhabitants  and  the  Indians.  Their  purpose,  how- 
ever, made  necessary  the  continuation  of  catechumenal  in- 
struction in  church  doctrine  and  observances  of  the  Christian 
life.  While  this  phase  of  their  work  yields  the  most  striking 
aspect  of  their  educational  efforts  in  the  years  that  followed, 
there  is  reason  to  believe,  as  has  already  been  shown,  that  they 
were  not  altogether  unmindful  of  the  secular  educational 
needs  of  their  flocks.  As  the  missionaries  at  this  time  were 
invariably  capable  of  conversing  in  the  Indian  tongue,  they 
could  teach  the  articles  of  faith  to  the  savages  simply  and 
effectively. 

The  Ordre  de  Bon  Temps. — Before  disposing  of  the  period 
of  French  ascendancy  in  the  peninsula  of  Nova  Scotia,  men- 
tion should  be  made  of  an  institution  that  at  an  early  date 
performed  service  of  a  literary  and  educational  character 
for  the  people  at  Port  Royal.  This  was  the  ancient  society 
of  the  "Ordre  de  Bon  Temps,"  organized  by  the  clever  Marc 
Lescarbot. 

Lescarbot  came  to  Acadia  in  the  train  of  Poutrincourt  in 
the  spring  of  1606.  He  had  been  a  lawyer  by  profession  but, 
conceiving  law  a  useless  and  even  base  calling,  he  neglected 
his  legal  duties  to  pursue  studies  in  literature.  At  Port 
Royal  he  took  assiduously  to  horticulture  and,  when  not  en- 
gaged in  the  field,  spent  his  time  in  retired  study  or  in  devis- 
ing means  of  diversion  for  the  long  evenings.  In  his  little 
room  he  had  a  few  books  brought  from  France  and  there,  in 
his  retreat,  he  wrote  his  diary  and  composed  poems,  some  of 
which  were  afterwards  printed  under  the  title  "Muses  de  la 
Nouvelle  France."39 

The  Ordre  included  fifteen  of  the  principal  men  of  the 
place  among  whom  were  several  possessing  literary  talent. 
Periodic  meetings  were  held  in  the  dining-hall  of  M.  Poutrin- 
court's  house,  each  member  of  the  club  assuming,  in  regular 


39  Lescarbot,  Marc,  The  History  of  New  France,  Vol.  1,  Intro.,  p.  xiii. 


26  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

succession,  the  office  of  Grand  Master  of  the  proceedings.  A 
feast  or  banquet  marked  the  opening  of  the  meeting,  this  be- 
ing followed  by  rounds  of  sharp  discussion  in  which  featured 
witty  jokes,  songs  and  the  recital  of  verses,  usually  composed 
by  Lescarbot  himself.40  These  meetings  were  always  attended 
by  twenty  or  thirty  savages,  men,  women,  girls  and  boys.  In 
this  way  the  natives  became  accustomed  to  the  ways  of  the 
white  man  and  learned  something  of  his  language.41  The  rec- 
reation was  no  less  of  educational  benefit  to  the  French  in- 
habitants themselves,  helping,  as  it  did,  in  that  remote  little 
settlement  to  keep  the  spark  of  learning  alive. 

Lescarbot,  in  a  more  direct  way  also,  became  a  sort  of  peda- 
gogue to  his  compatriots.  "I  am  not  ashamed  to  confess,"  he 
writes,  "that  at  the  request  of  our  chief,  M.  de  Poutrincourt,  I 
devoted  some  hours  each  Sunday  to  the  religious  instruction 
of  our  men,  both  in  order  to  improve  their  minds  and  to  offer 
an  example  to  the  Indians  of  our  manner  of  living."42  He  took 
great  delight  in  observing  the  customs  of  the  Indians,  and  he 
was  wisely  able  to  say  to  the  missionaries,  "It  will  be  the  part 
of  prudence  in  the  pastors  to  teach  them  carefully  and  not  in 
fantastical  ways."43 

This  admonition  lends  additional  weight  to  the  view  al- 
ready expressed,  that  the  French  missionaries  in  Acadia  dis- 
charged duties  that  might  very  properly  be  termed  pedagog- 
ical. No  doubt,  they  did  considerable  religious  teaching. 
Before  receiving  the  postulant  Indians  within  the  Church,  it 
was  necessary  to  subject  them  to  a  process  of  instruction, 
necessarily  brief  but  sufficient  for  communion.  Occasionally, 
throughout  the  documents,  instances  are  given  descriptive  of 
the  ceremonies  incident  to  the  confession  of  faith  by  the  na- 
tives. Referring  to  the  conversion  of  the  Micmac  chief,  Mem- 
bertou,  with  a  score  of  his  kinsmen  in  1 610,  Lescarbot  writes : 
"After  the  necessary  instruction  had  been  given,  on  St.  John 
Baptist's  Day,  June  24,  1610,  they  were  baptised  to  the  num- 
ber of  21. "44     Instruction  of  this  kind  was  continued  by  the 


40  ibid.,  Intro.,  Vol.  1;  Canada  and  Its  Provinces,  Vol.  13,  p.  30. 

41  Lescarbot,  Marc,  op.  cit.,  Vol.  11,  p.  343. 

42  ibid.,  Vol.  1,  Intro.,  p.  xiii. 
« ibid.,  Vol.  2,  p.  180. 

44  ibid.,  Vol.  3,  p.  37. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  27 

French  priests  in  Nova  Scotia  long  after  it  had  ceased  to  be  a 
French  province. 

The  Notre  Dame  School  at  Louisbourg. — A  serious  effort  to 
establish  a  school  in  Isle  Royale  (Cape  Breton)  was  made  by 
the  French  after  the  peace  of  1713.  Having  by  that  treaty 
renounced  all  right  to  the  peninsula,  France  determined  to 
make  Isle  Royale  the  metropolis  of  French  population  in 
Eastern  Canada  with  the  principal  establishment  at  Louis- 
bourg. The  town  had  about  500  inhabitants  in  1715  out  of  a 
total  for  the  entire  island  of  720;  963  in  1726  and  1,463  in 
1737,  when  the  estimate  for  the  whole  of  Cape  Breton  was  in 
the  vicinity  of  3,800.45  This  field  had  already  at  an  early  date 
been  explored  by  Catholic  missionaries. 

By  a  charter  granted  to  the  Ecclesiastics  of  the  Episcopal 
Seminary  of  Foreign  Missions  at  Quebec  by  Richard  Dennis 
on  the  13th  of  August,  1685,  the  former  were  authorized  to 
establish  a  church  or  chapel  on  Cape  Breton  with  the  privi- 
lege of  enjoying  certain  land  concessions.  One  stipulation 
was  that  the  Seminary  settle  thereon  a  resident  priest  "for 
the  purpose  of  preaching  the  Gospel  and  to  instruct  in  the 
Faith  and  Roman  Catholic  Apostolic  Religion  all  the  said 
Indian  aborigines  and  others  who  might  join  them."46  This 
humble  beginning  received  further  impulse  by  the  application 
of  the  settlement  policy  of  1714  in  which  education  received 
more  detailed  consideration  than  formerly.  With  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  town  at  Louisbourg  teachers  now  became 
necessary  and,  after  a  period  of  vacillation,  choice  for  the 
work  fell  on  the  Notre  Dame  Sisters  of  Montreal.  The  order 
had  been  founded  by  Marguerite  Bourgeois  in  1659  and  al- 
ready had  attained  distinction  in  scholastic  work. 

Replying  to  a  request  for  teachers  by  M.  De  St.  Ovide, 
Governor  of  Cape  Breton,  the  Bishop  of  Quebec  suggested,  in 
1726,  that  a  branch  of  the  Notre  Dame  house  be  established 
at  Louisbourg.  The  proposal,  though  accepted  by  the  Gover- 
nor, met  with  disapproval  on  presentation  to  the  French 
Government.47     By  letters  patent  granted  in  1716,  a  number 


45  McLennan,  J.  S.,  Louisbourg  from  its  Foundation  to  its  Fall,  1713- 
1758,  London,  McMillan  and  Company,  1918,  p.  371. 
«  Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  2. 
*7  Reports  on  the  Canadian  Archives,  1904,  p.  79. 


28  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

of  Sisters  of  Charity  were  established  in  the  town  and  broth- 
ers of  the  same  order  were  about  the  same  time  put  in  charge 
of  the  hospital.48  The  home  government  deemed  the  services 
of  these  sufficient  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  garrison.  But  the 
Bishop  of  Quebec,  in  a  communication  addressed  to  the 
French  Foreign  Minister  soon  afterwards,  expressed  the  be- 
lief that  the  religious  orders  stationed  at  Louisbourg  were 
not  competent  to  meet  the  many  demands  the  situation  im- 
posed on  them.49  Incident  to  the  Bishop's  exhortation,  the 
field  was  opened  to  the  Notre  Dame  Sisters  in  1730  and  an 
allowance  of  1,500  livres  granted  them  by  the  King  of 
France.50  Two  years  later  Sister  Marguerite  le  Roi  came  to 
Louisbourg,  followed  next  year  by  three  more  sisters  with 
Sister  St.  Joseph  as  superior.51 

On  the  8th  of  August,  1733,  the  Sisters  purchased  a  house 
for  15,000  livres  from  Sieur  et  Dame  Beaucour  in  which  they 
opened  a  school.52  Their  first  pupils  were  orphan  and  desti- 
tute children.  As  facilities  for  accommodation  began  to  im- 
prove they  took  in,  for  instruction,  children  of  officers  of  the 
garrison.53  Later  on  they  received  young  women  of  the  town 
as  resident  pupils.54  For  this  latter  purpose  Governor  For- 
ant  subsequently  made  them  a  grant  of  1,600  livres  per  year.55 
This  same  gentleman,  recognizing  the  meritorious  character 
of  their  work,  bequeathed  them,  at  death,  the  whole  of  his 
property.56  His  will,  however,  was  contested  by  his  sister 
and  but  a  portion  of  it  fell  to  the  institution.57 

Governor  Forant's  endowment  provided  for  the  education 
of  six  young  women  of  the  town.  As  to  the  total  number  of 
pupils  in  attendance,  no  figures  are  available,  but  communi- 
cations that  passed  between  the  Sisters  and  the  Vicar  de  PIsle 


48  Ibid.,  1887,  pp.  ccxviii;  ccxxxviii. 

4»  Ibid.,  1887,  p.  ccxvii. 

50  ibid. 

nibid.,  1904,  p.  184. 

«2  Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  4. 

as  Reports  on  the  Canadian  Archives,  1887,  p.  cccxiv. 

^Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  4. 

68  Ibid. 

86  Reports  on  the  Canadian  Archives,  1899,  p.  244. 

bt  Ibid.,  1904,  pp.  292-293. 

Mention  is  made  in  the  documents  of  the  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame  being 
at  Louisbourg  as  early  as  1727.  See  Reports  on  Can.  Archives,  1887,  p. 
ccciii. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  29 

Dieu  show  that  it  was  so  great  as  to  overtax  accommodations. 
Frequent  requests  were  made  by  the  Sisters  for  alleviation  of 
the  situation.  In  1733  the  Comptroller,  M.  Sabatier,  reported 
to  the  French  Minister  that  the  orphans  had  been  placed  with 
the  Sisters  and  requested  that  some  provision  be  made  for 
their  subsistence.58  They  requested  a  charter  of  establish- 
ment in  1736,  but  this  was  refused.  Three  years  later,  how- 
ever, it  was  granted  along  with  a  yearly  gratuity  of  1,500 
livres  and  a  special  donation  of  3,000  livres  more  in  compen- 
sation for  the  expense  of  establishment  in  1733.59 

During  the  siege  of  1744  the  nunnery  suffered  severely 
from  the  bombardment ;  and  after  the  fortress  fell  the  Sisters 
were  removed  to  France  with  the  civilian  population.60  Dis- 
embarking at  Rochefort,  they  made  their  way  to  La  Rochelle 
where  they  took  refuge  in  l'Hospital  de  St.  Etienne.61  On 
restoration  of  Cape  Breton  to  France  by  the  treaty  of  1748, 
the  Sisters  were  asked  to  resume  their  teaching  at  Louis- 
bourg,  the  Intendant  stating  that  "it  appears  very  desirable 
that  these  dear  Sisters  return."62  After  an  absence  of  almost 
four  years  they  found  their  home,  on  arrival,  in  a  most  dilapi- 
dated condition  and  altogether  unfit  for  occupation.63  Their 
request,  that  the  government  of  the  colony  put  it  in  a  fit  state 
of  repair,  seems  to  have  been  ignored;  for  they  were  driven 
to  the  necessity,  eventually,  of  renting  new  quarters  at  an  an- 
nual cost  of  500  livres.  The  new  location  was  very  inade- 
quate to  the  Sisters'  purpose,  and  we  find  them,  as  a  conse- 
quence, confining  their  attention  thereafter  to  the  preparation 
of  young  girls  for  first  communion.  The  number  of  these  was 
also  restricted  to  thirty.  The  Sisters  reported  that  frequent 
protests  were  made  by  others  who  sought  admission  but  who 
were  refused  because  there  was  no  place  to  put  them.64  An- 
other source  of  annoyance  to  the  Sisters  was  occasioned  by 
the  recall,  in  1743,  of  their  yearly  allowance  of  1,500  livres. 


ss  Ibid.,  1887,  p.  cccxiv. 
**Ibid.,  1904,  pp.  267,  268. 

6o  Chauveau,  Pierre,  L' Instruction  Publique  au  Canada,   Quebec,  p. 
171. 
6i  Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  4. 
«2  Ibid. 
63  iud. 
e*  Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  4. 


30  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

In  a  letter  dated  for  the  year  1751,  they  reiterated  these 
statements  relative  to  their  condition  and  stated  moreover 
their  embarrassment  at  trying  to  provide  suitable  quarters 
tor  the  young  women  of  M.  De  Forant's  foundation. 

It  would  appear  that  in  time  the  Sisters  succeeded  in  their 
efforts  to  command  the  interest  of  the  authorities  for  when 
Louisbourg  was  taken  in  1758  their  property  consisted  of  a 
building  of  fairly  large  dimensions  situated  near  the  center 
of  the  town.65 

The  Sisters  were  probably  among  the  last  of  the  French 
inhabitants  to  leave  Louisbourg  after  the  capitulation  of 
1758.  They  were  still  there  when  Pichon  wrote  in  1760.66  In 
1768,  however,  Governor  Franklin,  writing  to  the  Board  of 
Trade,  reported  that  the  nunnery  was  in  a  state  of  ruin.67 
The  last  we  hear  of  it  is  in  the  records  of  1772  when  Kichard 
Bulkeley  advised  George  Cottnam,  Chief  Magistrate  at  Louis- 
bourg, to  permit  Lawrence  Kavanagh  to  "occupy  and  convert 
to  his  own  use  the  remaining  part  of  the  frame  of  a  house  at 
Louisbourg  known  by  the  name  of  nunnery."68 

With  the  demolition  of  the  nunnery  at  Louisbourg  the  last 
material  trace  of  educational  achievement  in  Acadia  by  the 
French  disappeared.  Kace  rivalry  and  intolerance  had  ac- 
complished for  the  school  at  Louisbourg  what  individual 
cupidity  had  achieved  for  the  Port  Royal  seminaries  over  one 
hundred  years  before.  The  life  history  of  those  schools  was 
short,  and  the  warlike  circumstances  under  which  they  per- 
severed distracted  their  peaceful  pursuits  and  threatened 
momentarily  their  very  existence.  But  during  this  brief 
period  of  endurance  they  did  more  to  educate  and  Christian- 
ize the  Indians  than  the  new  domination  accomplished  in 
many  years.  They  were  educational  pioneers  in  Acadia;  the 
seminaries  at  Port  Royal  realizing  a  success  denied  their 
contemporaries  at  Quebec.  The  Capuchins  in  Acadia,  as  Len- 
hart  notes,  "had  solved  the  problem  in  which  Laval  had  failed ; 


65  ibid.,  Vol.  43,  Doc.  53,  Plan  of  the  Town  of  Louisbourg. 

ee  Pichon,  Thomas,  Genuine  Letters  and  Memoirs     ...     p.  203. 

67  Public  Records  of  Npva  Scotia>  Vol.  43,  Doc.  53. 

e&  Ibid.,  Vol.  136,  p.  156. 

For  location  of  the  nunnery  at  Louisbourg,  consult  Gridley's  Map, 
1745;  a  copy  is  contained  in  Reports  on  the  Canadian  Archives,  1886, 
p.  clii. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  31 

they  had  put  little  French  boys  on  the  benches  with  the  sav- 
ages .  .  .  This  was  a  success  which  neither  the  Jesuits  nor 
the  Sulpitians  had  accomplished."69 

The  capitulation  of  Acadia  to  the  English  changed  the  as- 
pect of  French  education  in  the  country  forever  after.  In 
sequestered  and  remote  parts  of  Nova  Scotia  communities  of 
French  families  lingered  long  after  the  edict  of  ostracism  had 
been  enacted  against  them.  Kemoved  from  educational  in- 
fluences and  deprived  of  the  services  of  their  priests,  they  re- 
mained in  comparative  illiteracy.  They  seemed,  indeed,  to 
have  lost  the  educational  sense  and  their  descendants,  though 
mmerous  in  certain  sections  of  the  province,  remained,  for 
long,  rather  outside  the  pale  of  educational  interest.  One 
reason  for  this  undoubtedly  is  that  the  dominating  language 
of  instruction  in  their  community  schools  has  been  foreign 
to  their  native  vernacular. 

Though,  natural  to  such  condition,  their  language  lost  its 
original  purity,  intrinsically  through  illiteracy  and  inciden- 
tally because  of  surroundings,  they,  nevertheless,  have  re- 
tained that  characteristic  ideal  of  religious  devotion  instilled 
in  them  by  the  early  missionaries.  They  constitute  at  the 
present  day  a  most  promising  element  in  the  population  of 
the  province. 


ea  Lenhart,  Rev.  John,  cp.  cit.,  Vol.  27,  No.  3,  September,  1916,  p.  224. 


CHAPTER  II 

EARLY   BRITISH   PERIOD 

1713-1766 

By  the  treaty  of  peace  of  1713,  France,  with  other  conces- 
sions, renounced  in  favor  of  England  all  political  and  terri- 
torial rights  in  the  peninsula  of  Nova  Scotia.  The  transfer 
involved  the  destiny  of  approximately  2,500  Acadian  French, 
descendants  of  the  earliest  colonists  in  the  province.70  Many 
of  them  occupying  lucrative  farm  lands  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
Bay  of  Fundy  were  reluctant  to  leave.  As  they  seemed  to  be 
of  good  faith  they  were  accorded  the  privilege  of  remaining  in 
possession  of  their  property  provided  they  complied  with 
certain  requirements.  A  few  of  them,  unable  to  reconcile 
themselves  to  the  change,  withdrew  to  neighboring  French 
territory.  But  the  majority  elected  to  remain.  They  took 
diligently  to  the  cultivation  of  the  soil,  increasing  both  in 
number  and  influence.  For  another  half  century  they  were 
the  principal  European  settlers  in  Nova  Scotia,  outnumbering 
by  far  their  English  co-laborers. 

The  attitude  of  the  Imperial  Government  toward  settlement 
in  Nova  Scotia  during  this  period  was  marked  by  extreme 
dilatoriness.  The  number  of  civilian  English  families  in  the 
province  in  1740  Paul  Mascarene  places  at  not  upwards  of 
half  a  dozen.  They  were  outnumbered  by  the  French  in  the  pro- 
portion of  thirty  to  one.  Before  Halifax  was  founded  in  1749 
persons  of  British  extraction  in  the  province  did  not  exceed 
400  in  number.  They  comprised  chiefly  soldiers  in  garrison  at 
Annapolis  and  a  few  more  on  guard  at  Canso.71 

In  dealing  with  the  French  the  administration  pursued  the 
policy  of  allowing  them  the  management  of  their  own  domestic 
and  social  relations  so  long  as  they  manifested  obedience  to 
English  control.  Within  certain  limits,  confessedly  narrow, 
they  were  for  a  time  masters  of  their  own  educational 
destinies.     But  no   encouragement   either  of   a   financial  or 


^Report  of  Governor  Vetch,  Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  5. 
"Collections  of  the  Nova  Scotia  Historical  Society,  "Vol.  1,  An  Account 
of  Nova  Scotia  in  1743;  Reports  on  the  Canadian  Archives,  1884,  p.  93. 
32 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  S3 

moral  nature  was  given  them  to  establish  schools.  Later  on, 
as  we  shall  see,  conditions  prohibited  such  ventures  among 
the  French. 

In  the  case  of  the  militia,  however,  a  genuine  need  for  educa- 
tional facilities  was  created.  Though  the  number  of  soldiers 
quartered  at  Annapolis  was  rather  inconsiderable,  some  of 
them  were  men  of  enlightenment  and  many  had  their  families 
with  them.  These  looked  with  dismay  on  the  prospect  of  their 
children  growing  up  unacquainted  with  even  the  elements  of 
learning.  They  expressed  their  solicitude  to  the  British  Gov- 
ernment and  as  a  result  we  witness  in  the  diminutive  nuclei 
of  population  at  Annapolis  and  Canso  the  first  efforts  of 
English  schoolmasters  in  Nova  Scotia. 

The  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign 
Parts. — The  year  after  the  capture  of  Port  Koyal,  Colonel 
Nicholson  laid  before  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the 
Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts  an  address  from  the  Council  of  War 
at  Annapolis  praying  for  the  appointment  of  ministers  to  Nova 
Scotia.72  Since  this  Society  came  to  exercise  a  controlling  in- 
fluence in  shaping  the  educational  and  religious  policy  of  the 
province  throughout  the  18th  century,  it  seems  desirable  that 
for  a  proper  understanding  of  the  educational  situation  in 
Nova  Scotia  during  that  period  a  brief  account,  at  least,  be 
given  of  the  principles  of  its  foundation  and  the  means 
adopted  for  their  accomplishment. 

The  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign 
Parts  (for  brevity,  usually  referred  to  as  the  S.  P.  G.)  was 
an  institution  closely  affiliated  with  the  established  Church 
of  England  and  consequently  with  the  British  Government. 
It  was  chartered  in  the  year  1701  for  the  purpose  "of  provid- 
ing a  maintenance  of  an  orthodox  Clergy  in  the  plantations, 
colonies,  and  factories  of  Great  Britain  beyond  the  seas,  for 
the  instruction  of  the  King's  loving  subjects  in  the  Christian 
religion."73  This  was  interpreted  as  meaning  "to  settle  the 
state  of  Keligion  as  well  as  may  be  among  our  people  there, 
which  by  all  accounts  we  have  very  much  wants  their  pious 

"Pascoe,  C.  F.,  Classified  Digest  of  the  Records  of  the  Society  for  the 
Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts,  1701-1892,  Fourth  Edition. 
London,  1894,  p.  107. 

"Pascoe,  C.  F.,  op.  cit.,  p.  7. 


34  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

care :  and  then  to  proceed  in  the  best  methods  they  can  towards 
the  conversion  of  the  natives.  .  .  .  The  breeding  up  of  persons 
to  understand  the  great  variety  of  Languages  of  those 
Countries  in  order  to  be  able  to  converse  with  the  natives,  and 
preach  the  Gospel  to  them." 

From  the  foregoing  as  the  general  statement  of  endeavor, 
a  more  specific  code  for  the  guidance  of  teachers  and  ministers 
was  evolved  in  1706.  Its  more  salient  points  were:  "the  in- 
struction and  disposing  of  Children  to  live  as  Christians" ; 
to  teach  them  to  read  "the  Holy  Scriptures  and  other  pious 
and  useful  Books"  and  to  "write  a  legible  hand" ;  to  inculcate 
a  spirit  of  industry  and  to  initiate  them  in  the  rules  of  church 
attendance  and  devotion  always  keeping  a  vigilant  eye  for  fit 
candidates  for  the  ministry.74 

The  controlling  purpose  being  evangelical,  all  teaching  was 
organized  on  a  strictly  religious  basis.  It  aimed  at  a  high 
standard  of  religious  instruction.  Candidates  for  the  office  of 
teacher  were  required  to  show  proficiency  in  the  teaching  of 
church  doctrine  and  a  certain  familiarity  with  church  ritual. 
A  rule  laid  down  in  1712  required  that  all  schoolmasters  in 
the  service  of  the  Society  should  have  at  least  deacons'  orders. 
Because  of  the  difficulty  it  created  in  securing  persons  pos- 
sessing the  necessary  qualifications,  this  requirement  had 
eventually  to  be  rescinded.  Schoolmasters,  according  to  the 
importance  of  the  post,  received  from  the  Society  an  annual 
salary  of  ten  to  twenty  pounds.75  We  find  them  frequently 
denominated  readers  or  catechists,  their  work  in  this  capacity 
being  often  indistinguishable  from  that  appertaining  to  the 
religious  office.  In  the  absence  of  duly  ordained  clergy,  the 
catechist  assembled  the  people  together  on  Sunday  to  read 
service  to  them;  and  "in  some  isolated  places  where  daily 
schools  were  impossible,  by  some  small  grant  from  the  Society, 
some  respectable  person  would  be  induced  to  Conduct  a  Sun- 
day school  and  to  read  Church  Service."76  In  the  field,  the 
educational  activities  of  the  Society  actually  embraced  "Pri- 


uIbid.,  pp.  7-8;  846. 

"Kemp,  William  Webb,  The  Support  of  Schools  in  Colonial  New  York 
by  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts, 
Teachers  College,  Columbia  University,  New  York,  1913,  p.  56. 

"Pascoe,  C.  F.,  op.  cit.f  p.  846. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  35 

mary,  SecoDdary  aod  Collegiate  educatioD  carried  od  iD  Day 
aod  BoardiDg  Schools;  aDd  iD  some  cases  combiDed  with 
OrphaDages  aod  iDdDstrial  traiDiDg."77 

The  first  edDcatiooal  work  of  the  S.  P.  G.  iD  North  America 
begaD  iD  1701  wheD  the  orgaDizatkm  opeoed  a  school  for  Id- 
diaos  aDd  Negro  slaves  iD  the  City  of  New  York.  This  was  a 
catechisiDg  school.  Id  NewfoDDdlaod,  the  Society  begaD  to 
SDpport  schools  aboDt  1726.  Two  years  later  it  had  a  repre- 
seDtative  schoolmaster  iD  Nova  Scotia. 

Watts'  School  at  Annapolis. — UDfortDDately  for  those  asso- 
ciated with  ColoDel  NicholsoD  at  ADDapolis,  the  praiseworthy 
attempt  made  by  their  commaDder  iD  1711  to  secDre  missioD- 
aries  for  Nova  Scotia  was  DDSDCcessfiil.  MaDy  years  passed 
before  their  hopes  were  realized. 

Nova  Scotia  at  that  time  seems  to  have  beeD  forgotteD  by 
official  EDglaod.  So  far  as  British  settlemeDt  is  coDceraed, 
progress  iD  the  colooy  was  static  for  maoy  years.  Likewise, 
the  Society,  afflicted  appareotly  with  the  same  iodiffereDtism, 
while  it  exerted  vigoroDs  efforts  to  meet  the  demaod  for 
teachers  aDd  missioDaries  for  the  rest  of  the  North  AmericaD 
coloDies,  remaiDed  oblivioDS  to  similar  Deeds  existiDg  iD  Nova 
Scotia.  For  almost  tweDty  years  after  the  captDre  of  Port 
Koyal  the  colooy  eodDred  destitDte  of  the  services  of  aD 
ordaioed  clergymaD  of  the  AoglicaD  ChDrch. 

The  ioitiative  was  agaio  takeD  by  the  garrisoD  at  ADDapolis. 
Id  1727  it  addressed  aD  appeal  to  the  Society  for  the  services 
of  a  chaplaiD.  It  seems  that  JDst  theD  the  directors  of  that 
orgaoizatioD  were  coDtemplatiog  seodiDg  a  missioDary  to 
Nova  Scotia.  The  reqDest  hasteDed  actioD  aDd  led  to  ao 
immediate  appoiDtmeDt  iD  the  persoD  of  the  Revereod  Richard 
Watts.  His  selectioD  was  fortDDate,  for  Mr.  Watts,  iD  additioD 
to  beiDg  a  miDister,  was  also  a  capable  teacher.  His  adveDt, 
therefore,  marks  the  begiDDiog  of  edDcatioD  iD  Nova  Scotia 
DDder  British  rDle. 

Mr.  Watts  arrived  at  ADDapolis  towards  the  close  of  the 
year  1727.  As  aD  appoiotee  of  the  Society,  iD  additioD  to  his 
allowaDce  as  a  missioDary,  he  was  eligible  also  for  participa- 
tioD  iD  the  fDDds  devoted  by  that  body  to  the  exteosioD  of 


uIbid.t  p.  769. 


36  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

educational  facilities  in  the  plantations.  His  commission 
provided  for  an  initial  allowance  of  ten  pounds  per  year  as 
schoolmaster.  All  through  the  winter  following  his  arrival 
he  labored  industriously  to  organize  the  religious  and  educa- 
tional resources  of  the  settlement,  and  so  well  did  he  progress 
that  by  spring  he  was  prepared  to  begin  classes. 

The  opening  class  of  the  school  was  held  at  Easter,  1728, 
in  a  building  constructed  for  that  purpose  under  Mr.  Watts' 
supervision.78  For  study  and  textbooks  all  that  was  available 
were  a  number  of  bibles,  prayer-books  and  tracts  that  the 
teacher  had  brought  across  from  England.  What  was  lacking 
in  equipment,  however,  Mr.  Watts  made  up  for  by  ingenuity, 
tact  and  industry.  Many  adults  who  had  attained  to  maturity 
in  the  colony  he  induced  to  attend  classes  with  the  children. 
At  one  time  he  had  an  attendance  of  fifty.  In  1731,  the  school- 
master's salary  was  doubled  by  the  Society.  More  spacious 
accommodations  had  then  become  necessary,  and  Mr.  Watts, 
after  waiting  for  assistance  until  1736,  undertook  to  enlarge 
the  school  building,  drawing  for  this  purpose  on  his  own 
resources.  He  was  busily  engaged  in  this  project  when  the 
Society  decided  to  remove  him  from  Nova  Scotia.  An  appoint- 
ment was  tendered  him  in  New  Bristol  in  New  England  and, 
abandoning  his  charge  at  Annapolis,  he  moved  thither  in 
1738.79  His  departure  left  but  one  clergyman  of  the  Church  of 
England  in  Nova  Scotia;  he  was  the  Reverend  James  Peden, 
stationed  at  Canso. 

Peden's  School  at  Canso. — Mr.  Watts'  sphere  of  jurisdiction 
covered  the  whole  of  Nova  Scotia.  In  1729,  he  reported  that 
the  people  at  Canso  were  "greatly  bent  to  address  the  Society 
for  a  minister."80  As  the  prospect  of  securing  an  assistant 
was  remote,  he  offered  to  adopt  the  post  as  one  of  his  missions. 
In  1733,  however,  the  Society  despatched  the  Reverend  James 
Peden  to  fill  the  position  of  deputy  chaplain  for  the  province 
and  auxiliary  to  Mr.  Watts.  By  Mr.  Watts'  direction,  Mr. 
Peden  was  designated  to  the  office  of  spiritual  director  to  the 
forces  at  Canso,  where  was  established  the  principal  outpost 

"Ibid.,  p.  107. 
"Ibid.,  pp.  107-108. 
"Ibid.,  p.  108. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  37 

on  the  Atlantic  shore  and  the  only  considerable  settlement, 
after  Annapolis,  of  British  colonists  in  the  province. 

The  educational  condition  of  the  Canso  settlement  at  this 
time  was  very  similar  to  what  Mr.  Watts  had  found  it  in 
Annapolis  several  years  before;  children  were  advancing  to 
maturity  ignorant  of  their  religion  and  void  of  all  educational 
discipline.  To  alleviate  the  situation,  Mr.  Peden  resolved 
to  open  a  school.  Here  as  pedagogue  he  labored  for  three 
years,  receiving  no  special  compensation  from  the  Society  for 
this  service.  In  appreciation  of  his  efforts,  however,  the  in- 
habitants memorialized  the  Society  in  1736  praying  that  the 
usual  advantages  accorded  schoolmasters  be  extended  Mr. 
Peden.  This  resulted  in  his  name  being  placed  on  the  list  of 
teachers  and  an  allowance  of  ten  pounds  voted  him.  He  con- 
tinued in  uninterrupted  enjoyment  of  this  gratuity  until  1743, 
when  it  was  withdrawn  for  the  reason  that  he  gave  "a  very  in- 
sufficient account  of  the  state  of  the  school."81 

After  these  initial  attempts  to  establish  schools,  an  inter- 
lude of  educational  lassitude  followed  throughout  Nova  Scotia. 
Interest  of  the  Society  in  the  country  declined.  There  was 
little  indication  that  any  concerted  effort  to  settle  the  country 
was  impending  and  in  some  quarters  it  was  suspected  that, 
eventually,  it  would  revert  to  French  control.  The  latter  still 
retained  Cape  Breton  Island  and  Isle  St.  Jean.  In  the  penin- 
sula itself  they  were  far  superior  to  the  English  in  numbers, 
and  they  exercised  a  much  more  powerful  influence  among  the 
Indians  than  did  their  rivals.  Governor  Shirley  wrote  to  the 
Duke  of  Newcastle  in  1747  expressing  his  apprehension  that 
the  French  would  soon  be  masters  of  Nova  Scotia.82  Had  they 
rebelled  the  consequence  might  have  been  serious.  Such  an 
occurrence,  no  doubt,  would  have  imperilled  the  safety  of 
isolated  English  settlers  in  the  province. 

The  obstacles  to  settlement  created  by  these  circumstances 
were  further  accentuated  by  current  reports  representing 
Nova  Scotia  to  be  aa  bleak,  marshy  and  almost  uninhabitable 
country."83     Characterizations  of  this  nature  are  of  frequent 


^Ibid.,  p.  108. 

"Reports  on  the  Canadian  Archives,  1883,  p.  32. 

83Martin,  Montgomery,  History  of  Nova  Scotia,  London,  1837,  p.  23. 


38  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

occurrence  among  the  documents — official  and  private — of  the 
time.  Naturally  they  discouraged  immigration,  no  one  being 
desirous  of  leaving  home  to  hazard  settlement  in  a  country  of 
such  reputed  disfavor.  Thus  for  many  years  the  British  popu- 
lation of  the  province  consisted  of  the  militia  and  disbanded 
soldiers,  the  latter  characterized  in  the  records  as  settlers  of 
the  "unprofitable  sort"  whose  interest  was  not  in  the  welfare 
of  the  colony. 

What  the  administrators  relied  on  during  this  period  was 
apparently  that  the  French  inhabitants  might  in  time  be 
weaned  from  affinity  for  France  and  their  colonizing  ex- 
perience used  to  the  advantage  of  Britain.  Since  loyalty  to 
France  at  that  time  was  synonymous  with  fealty  to  the 
Catholic  Church,  it  was  obvious  that  the  attainment  of  this 
purpose  had  to  be  achieved  through  the  conversion  of  those 
people.  While,  therefore,  the  ultimate  purpose  of  this  tacit 
policy  was  political,  the  immediate  was  religious. 

Governor  Vetch  of  Massachusetts,  writing  from  Boston  to 
the  Commissioners  of  Trade  and  Plantations  in  1711,  ex- 
pressed his  belief  that  it  would  be  prudent  to  represent  to  Her 
Majesty  that  "free  transportation,  tools,  and  twelve  months 
subsistence  be  offered  to  Her  Protestant  subjects  of  Britain 
and  Ireland"  to  settle  in  Nova  Scotia.84  If  with  the  above 
supposed  planters,"  he  suggested,  "att  first  two  able  clergymen, 
who  understand  the  French  were  sent  over  I  doubt  not  but  by 
their  means,  and  View  of  Interest,  many  of  them  (the  French) 
would  become  Protestants."  His  successor,  Shirley,  shared  in 
the  same  view.  His  recommendations  were,  however,  more 
pointed.  Shirley  advised  in  1746  that  the  French  priests  be 
expelled  from  Nova  Scotia  and  their  place  filled  by  protestant 
ministers;  that  protestant  English  schools  be  established  and 
inducements  made  the  French  to  send  their  children  to  them 
and  conform  to  the  protestant  religion.85  His  manifesto, 
issued  to  the  Acadians  the  following  year,  carefully  refrained 
from  introducing  any  statement  that  might  be  construed  as 


"Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia.    Vol.  5. 

""Richard,  Edouard,   Acadia — Missing   Links   of  a   Lost   Chapter   in 
American  History,  New  York,  Home  Book  Company,  Vol.  1,  p.  219. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  39 

extending  to  them  freedom  in  the  exercise  of  their  religious 
beliefs.86 

Formation  of  a  School  Policy  for  Nova  Scotia. — As  early  as 
1729  the  Lords  of  Trade  had  recommended  to  the  Privy 
Council  that,  in  placing  proposed  protestant  Irish  and  Pala- 
tine families,  the  same  system,  with  necessary  modifications, 
should  be  observed  in  Nova  Scotia  as  was  in  general  use  in 
New  England.  As  regards  education,  this  provided  for  the 
reservation  in  every  township  of  a  strip  of  land  for  the  main- 
tenance of  a  minister,  a  church  and  a  grammar  school.87  Con- 
ditions in  Nova  Scotia  being  in  general  similar  to  those  exist- 
ing in  New  England,  the  policy  was  adopted.  This  accounts 
for  the  origin  of  the  church  and  school-land  reservations  in 
Nova  Scotia. 

The  policy  was  to  have  been  put  in  effect  by  Governor 
Philips.  Upon  his  recall,  his  successor,  Armstrong,  was  in- 
structed to  make  this  the  guiding  principle  in  issuing  land 
grants  to  settlers  in  the  province.  In  1732,  he  issued  his 
proclamation.  The  nature  of  the  provisions  made  therein 
for  education  is  revealed  in  the  instructions  given  by  the 
Governor  to  Paul  Mascarene,  one  of  the  Council  members, 
authorizing  him  to  proceed  to  Boston  to  solicit  immigration 
from  the  New  England  plantations.  These  orders  in  part 
read: 

It  being  his  Majesty's  will  and  pleasure  that  this  his  Prov- 
ince of  Nova  Scotia  should  be  settled  and  that  chiefly  with 
Protestant  inhabitants.  These  are  therefore  (in  order  to 
forward  the  same)  to  empower  and  authorize  you,  Major  Paul 
Mascarene,  to  proceed  to  Boston  in  New  England  and  there 
(first  acquainting  the  Governor  of  that  his  Majesty's  Prov- 
ince) to  treat  with  such  of  his  Majesty's  Subjects  as  may  apply 
to  you  during  your  abode  there,  for  information  of  the  soil 
and  situation  of  the  province.  .  .  .  That  a  Town  lot  and  a 
Sufficient  quantity  of  land  Shall  be  Sett  apart  witnin  the  Said 
parish  or  District  for  the  Minister  as  also  to  the  Schoolmaster 
and  their  successors  in  office. 

That  for  the  Encouragement  of  the  first  Minister  and 
Schoolmaster,  Grants  in  fee  Simple  Shall  be  made  to  Each  of 


^Reports  on  the  Canadian  Archives,  1883,  p.  33. 
"Ibid.,  1894,  p.  71. 


40  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

them  for  Lots  as  aforesaid  to  the  other  Inhabitants,  for  them 
and  their  heirs  forever.88 

Owing  to  the  failure  of  Mascarene's  mission  these  meas- 
ures then  attained  no  practical  realization.  They  underwent 
further  elaboration  by  Lieutenant  Amherst  in  1745.  Amherst's 
proposal  was  "to  lay  out  the  land  in  townships  of  four  miles 
square,  divided  into  66  shares,  two  of  these  appropriated  for 
a  minister  and  schoolmaster  and  four  for  the  Crown."89 

The  founding  of  Halifax  in  1749  signalized  the  application 
of  the  land  policy  to  Nova  Scotia.  The  immigration  of  that 
year  brought  an  accretion  to  the  English  in  Nova  Scotia  of 
upwards  of  2,500  souls  that  increased  rapidly  to  over  6,000  in 
1751. 90  The  plan  was  to  settle,  with  protestants,  six  townships 
of  convenient  size,  reserving  in  each  plots  for  a  church  and 
school  and  tracts  suitably  located  for  the  use  of  a  minister  and 
schoolmaster.  Surveys  of  townships  were  made  in  several 
districts  of  the  province.  By  mutual  arrangement,  the  clergy- 
men and  teachers  were  to  be  supplied  by  the  Society  for  the 
Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts. 

The  terms  of  the  agreement  by  which'  the  Society  accepted 
responsibility  for  the  necessary  teachers  and  schoolmasters 
are  contained  in  a  letter  addressed  to  that  body  by  the  Lord 
Commissioners  of  Trade  and  Plantations  on  April  6th,  1749. 
That  document  states : 

His  Majesty  Having  given  directions  that  a  number  of 
persons  should  be  sent  to  the  Province  of  Nova  Scotia,  in  North 
America,  I  am  directed  by  my  Lord  Commissioners  for  Trade 
and  Plantations,  to  desire  you  will  acquaint  the  Society  for 
Propagating  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts,  that  it  is  proposed 
to  settle  the  said  persons  in  six  townships  and  that  a  par- 
ticular spot  will  be  set  apart  in  each  of  them  for  building  a 
church,  and  400  acres  of  land  adjacent  thereto  granted  in 
perpetuity  free  from  the  payment  of  any  Quit  Kent  to  a  minis- 
ter and  his  successors,  and  200  acres  in  like  manner  to  a  school- 
master. Their  Lordships  therefore  recommend  to  this  Society 
to  name  a  minister  and  schoolmaster  for  each  of  the  said  town- 
ships, hoping  that  they  will  give  such  encouragement  to  them 


"Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  20,  Doc.  87. 
"Reports  on  the  Canadian  Archives,  1894,  p.  110. 
'"Canada  and  Its  Provinces,  Vol.  13,  p.  83. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  41 

as  the  Society  shall  think  proper,  until  their  land  can  be  so 
far  cultivated  as  to  afford  a  sufficient  support. 

I  am  further  to  acquaint  you  that  each  clergyman  who  shall 
be  sent  with  the  persons  who  are  to  form  the  first  settlement, 
will  have  a  grant  of  200  acres  of  land,  and  each  schoolmaster 
100  acres  in  perpetuity  to  them  and  their  heirs  as  also  30 
acres  over  and  above  their  said  respective  quotas,  for  every 
person  of  which  their  families  shall  consist;  and  that  they 
will  likewise  be  subsisted  during  their  passage  and  for  twelve 
months  after  their  arrival,  and  furnished  with  arms,  ammuni- 
tion and  materials  for  husbandry,  building  their  houses,  etc., 
in  like  manner  as  the  other  settlers.91 

The  opportunity  was  embraced  by  the  Society.  In  addition 
to  the  land  grants,  privileges  assuring  its  teachers  freedom  \ 
from  competition  in  Nova  Scotia  were  obtained  by  the  Society. 
This  condition  was  established  by  an  order  directed  to  Gover- 
nor Cornwallis  authorizing  him  to  prohibit  teaching  in  the 
province  by  any  person  except  under  license  of  the  Lord  Bishop 
of  London.92 

These  were  advantages  sufficient  to  guarantee  the  Society 
supreme  control  in  education  in  the  province.  Collectively 
they  had  the  effect  of  limiting  educational  and  religious 
privileges  in  Nova  Scotia  exclusively  to  that  body  and  impart- 
ing to  our  original  educational  system  a  character  decidedly 
denominational.  Because  of  the  provisions  of  this  charter  the 
Society  was  able,  years  later,  to  maintain,  with  a  great  deal 
of  propriety,  that,  in  so  far  as  the  school  lands  were  concerned, 
these,  at  least,  were  intended  for  the  enjoyment  of  its  repre- 
sentatives alone.  Apparently  this  intricate  question  was 
beyond  the  power  or  ability  of  our  courts  to  adjudicate,  and, 
as  we  shall  see,  the  school  lands  became  ultimately  an  anomaly 
in  the  educational  affairs  of  the  province. 

On  ratification  of  the  agreement  with  the  Lords  of  Trade 
the  Society  voted  an  annual  salary  of  fifteen  pounds  and  a 
special  gratuity  of  ten  pounds,  also  per  annum,  to  teachers 
who  embarked  with  the  first  settlers  to  each  township.93  This 
basic  salary,  five  pounds  in  excess  of  that  given  to  either  Watts 

91Akins,  Thomas  B.,  A  Sketch  of  the  Rise  and  Progress  of  the  Church 
of  England  in  the  British  North  American  Provinces,  Halifax,  1849 
pp.  12-13. 

"Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  438,  Doc.  58. 

^Collections  of  the  Nova  Scotia  Historical  Society,  Vol.  7,  p.  92. 


42  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

or  Peden,  was  said,  at  the  time,  to  be  the  greatest  remunera- 
tion ever  given  by  the  organization  to  any  schoolmaster  upon 
any  occasion. 

One  schoolmaster  of  the  name  of  Halhead  (or  Holhead) 
came  to  Halifax  with  the  immigrants  of  1749.  That  he  was  an 
appointee  of  the  Society  is  not  altogether  clear.  He  fell  sick 
soon  after  arrival,  his  presence  in  the  colony  remaining  un- 
known. This  was  apparently  the  case  for  the  Society's  mis- 
sionary, the  Reverend  Mr.  Tutty,  who  accompanied  the  expedi- 
tion, wrote  to  London  in  the  late  fall  to  request  that  the 
schoolmasters  appointed  for  Nova  Scotia  be  sent  as  soon  as 
possible;  their  presence  was  much  needed  and  none  had  yet 
arrived.94  The  following  April,  Mr.  Halhead  reported  to  Mr. 
Tutty  but  as  he  carried  no  credentials  the  latter  had  no 
authority  to  avail  himself  of  his  services.  Mr.  Halhead  seems 
to  have  made  a  favorable  impression  on  Mr.  Tutty,  for  in  1751 
the  reverend  gentleman  recommended  him  for  the  post  of 
teacher  in  the  building  then  partly  ready  for  holding  classes.95 
We  have  no  record,  however,  that  Mr.  Halhead  received  the 
appointment. 

The  Orphan  School  at  Halifax. — The  building  above  alluded 
to  was  the  Orphan  School,  the  first  educational  institution 
erected  in  Halifax.  The  frame  of  the  structure  was  erected 
in  the  early  spring  of  1750.  It  was  designed  to  provide  accom- 
modation for  orphans  until  they  were  fit  to  go  as  apprentices 
to  fishermen.96  It  was  ready  for  occupation  in  1752,  the 
Reverend  John  Breynton  being  its  first  supervisor.  During 
the  first  year  of  its  existence  the  institution  cared  for  fifty 
children.  Their  teacher  was  a  discharged  soldier  named  Ralph 
Sharrock.  Sharrock  was  the  first  teacher  in  Halifax  to  re- 
ceive the  pay  of  an  S.  P.  G.  schoolmaster;  and,  so  far  as 
records  reveal,  the  first  English  lay-schoolmaster  in  all  Nova 
Scotia.97 

For  many  years  the  Orphan  School  was  the  only  public 
educational  institution  in  Halifax.     Mr.   Sharrock  was  suc- 


**Ibid.,  pp.  106;  115. 

"Ibid.,  p.  124. 

"Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  38,  Doc.  11. 

"Akins,  Thomas  B.,  op.  cit.,  pp.  14-15;  Ibid.,  History  of  Halifax,  p.  70. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  43 

ceeded  by  Mr.  Buchanan,  who  held  office  until  1762.98  In  1758, 
Ann  Wenman  was  matron  of  the  institution."  The  educa- 
tional facilities  it  afforded  were  at  this  time  open  to  poor 
children  of  the  town  as  well  as  to  orphans.  The  rule  followed 
was  to  admit  children  at  eight  years  of  age  and  indenture 
them  at  twelve.  In  the  nine  years  ending  with  1761  the 
establishment  cared  for  275  children,  most  of  whom  were 
orphans.100 

Almost  from  its  inception  the  progress  of  the  Orphan  School 
was  retarded  by  financial  difficulties.  Its  maintenance  during 
the  first  year  involved  an  expenditure  of  233  pounds,  10. 
shillings.  A  yearly  appropriation  of  588  pounds  was  voted 
for  its  use  in  1761,  but  this  fell  short  of  meeting  expenses  in- 
curred for  that  year  by  125  pounds.  The  expenditure  was 
heavy  and  rather  disproportionate  to  the  number  of  children 
provided  for,  considering  that  they  numbered  but  32.  Mr. 
Belcher  attributed  the  unsatisfactory  condition  to  "the  too 
unlimited  expense  in  the  number  admitted  and  in  the  conduct 
of  this  charity."101  He  intimated  that  henceforth  the  charity 
was  to  be  confined  to  its  original  intention. 

Between  the  years  1750  and  1754  several  ships  arrived  at 
Halifax  bearing  immigrants  from  the  Continent.  These 
were  mostly  Germans  and  Swiss.  With  the  Germans  came 
their  own  teacher,  a  man  named  Gottfried  Jorpel.  As  they 
were  without  a  minister,  they  engaged  Mr.  Jorpel  to  lead  in 
the  singing  and  read  divine  service  to  them  in  the  little 
Lutheran  church  they  had  erected  in  Dutch  Town.  102 

In  company  with  the  Germans  and  Swiss  came  a  number 
of  Protestant  French,  chiefly  from  the  town  of  Montbeliard. 
Their  minister  and  teacher,  Jean  Baptiste  Moreau,  a  native 
of  Dijon,  in  Burgundy,  arrived  in  advance.  His  mission  was 
two-fold — to  act  as  preceptor  to  the  Protestant  French  and 


"Reports  on  the  Canadian  Archives,  1894,  p.  230. 
"Ibid.,  p.  215. 

100Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  37,  Doc.  11. 
101IMd.,  Vol.  37,  Doc.  11. 

102Roth,  Luther  D.,  Acadie  and  the  Acadians,  3rd  ed.,  Press  of  L   C 
Childs  &  Son,  Utica,  N.  Y.,  1891,  pp.  108;  113. 


44  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

to  convert  the  Catholic  French  already  settled  in  the 
country.108 

It  was  represented  in  the  letter  of  the  Lords  of  Trade  to 
the  S.  P.  G.  in  1749  that  all  the  inhabitants  of  Nova  Scotia  to 
the  number  of  20,000  were  French  Catholics  whose  clergy  took 
orders  from  the  French  Bishop  of  Quebec;  and  it  was  recom- 
mended that  if  some  of  the  ministers  and  schoolmasters  sent 
out  by  the  Society  were  able  to  speak  French  they  might  be 
"particularly  useful  in  cultivating  a  sense  of  the  true  Protes- 
tant religion  among  the  said  inhabitants  and  educating  their 
children  in  the  principles  thereof."104  Mr.  Moreau  wrote  the 
Society  from  Halifax  in  July,  1750:  "I  shall  endeavor  by 
assiduous  toil  as  soon  as  the  French  Protestants,  for  whom  we 
wait  here  shall  arrive,  to  recall  to  the  truth  a  great  number 
of  people  who  are  suffering  here  under  the  weight  of  error  and 
Ignorance."105 

When  the  majority  of  foreign  immigrants  moved  to  Mer-« 
liguesh  in  1753,  Moreau  followed  them.  Here  the  new  town- 
ship of  Lunenburg  had  been  surveyed  and  planned.  Moreau 
went  to  supervise  general  religious  activities,  but  more 
especially  to  teach  the  Calvinists  and  convert  the  few  French 
families  already  settled  there.  Mr.  Sey  (or  Ley),  as  assistant 
to  Moreau,  watched  over  the  spiritual  needs  of  the  Germans. 
To  compensate  him  for  his  services  the  Council  at  Halifax 
voted  him  a  gratuity  of  five  pounds.108 

Since  Mr.  Jorpel  had  remained  behind  in  Dutch  Town,  no 
teacher  was  available  for  the  German  children.  Moreau  re- 
ferred the  situation  to  the  administrators  and  was  informed 
that  when  Mr.  How  who  was  on  his  way  from  England  ar- 
rived, he  would  be  sent  to  fill  the  vacancy  provided  he 
acquiesced  to  the  German  proposals  and  was  willing  to  teach 
without  public  salary.107  The  Council  apparently  modified 
its  intention,  for  the  next  year  it  appropriated  four  pounds 

,03Akins,  Thomas  B.,  A  Sketch  of  the  Rise  and  Progress  of  the  Church 
of  England  in  the  British  North  American  Colonies,  p.  17.  DesBrisay, 
Mather  H.,  History  of  the  County  of  Lunenburg,  Toronto,  William 
Briggs,  1895,  p.  81. 

104Akins,  Thomas  B.,  A  Sketch  of  the  Rise  and  Progress  of  the  Church 
of  England  in  the  British  North  American  Colonies,  p.  17. 

^Collections  of  the  Nova  Scotia  Historical  Society,  Vol.  7,  p.  125. 

™Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  210,  p.  49. 

107Ibid.,  Vol.  134,  p.  13. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  45 

each  for  the  benefit  of  the  Lutheran  and  Calvinistic  teachers 
at  Lunenburg.108 

An  English  school  of  more  stable  foundation  was  conducted 
at  Lunenburg  in  1758  by  Mr.  Bailly,  an  Anglican  minister. 
It  seems,  however,  to  have  been  poorly  attended.  Moreau  at- 
tributed this  condition  to  dread  of  the  Indians,  but  more 
likely  it  was  due  to  the  disaffection  of  the  German  element 
in  the  population.109  Mr.  Bailly's  school  was  an  English 
school,  not  at  all  to  the  liking  of  the  Germans.  They  ob- 
structed its  progress  by  persistently  refusing  to  send  their 
children  to  Bailly  for  instruction.  One  of  their  number,  a 
catechist  of  the  name  of  Schultz,  was  engaged  to  set  up  a 
school  in  opposition  to  the  English  institution.  Here  he  con- 
ducted services  in  the  Lutheran  rite  and  disciplined  and 
taught  the  German  children  of  the  settlement.  More  success 
attended  Bailly's  efforts  among  the  French,  however.  They 
showed  themselves  more  amenable,  sending  a  fair  proportion 
of  their  children  to  the  English  school  to  be  taught  reading, 
writing  and  the  catechism.110 

As  time  went  on,  the  discontent  among  the  Germans  of 
Lunenburg  became  more  active  and  acute,  the  trouble  being 
centered  chiefly  about  the  question  of  education.  The  expec- 
tations of  the  Germans  seem  to  have  been  to  establish  them- 
selves in  a  segregated  settlement,  where  they  would  be  free 
to  perpetuate  the  customs  and  traditions  of  the  home  land. 
They  were  out  of  sympathy,  consequently,  with  a  school 
system  that  aimed  at  the  complete  anglicanization  of  their 
children.  They  wanted  German  schools  disciplined  by  Ger- 
man schoolmasters. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  S.  P.  G.  policy  was  not  designed  to 
foster  evidences  of  national  differences  opposed  to  British 
sentiment  and  tradition.  To  educate  the  people  into  a  uni- 
form belief  in  religion  was  its  prevailing  purpose.  Against 
the  successful  prosecution  of  this  design  the  Germans  pre- 
sented a  more  stubborn  obstacle  than  did  the  French  reacting 
more  aggressively  than  the  latter  to  what  they  regarded  as 


108I6i(Z.,  Vol.  210,  p.  49. 

^Reports  on  the  Canadian  Archives,  1894,  p.  216. 

110Ibid.,  pp.  95,  216. 


46  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

an  encroachment  on  their  privileges.  When,  with  a  view  of 
pacifying  the  turbulence,  Keverend  Kobert  Vincent  was  sent 
to  Lunenburg  as  missionary  and  teacher  in  1762,  the  situation 
was  extremely  critical.  Violent  demonstrations  in  protest 
against  the  school  policy  were  made.  No  persuasion  could 
induce  the  Germans  to  support  the  English  school;  they  were 
determined  and  fixed  in  their  intention  to  have  a  German 
teacher  for  their  children  at  any  cost.  If  coercion  were  at- 
tempted, there  was  danger  that  it  would  lead  to  serious  con- 
sequences. Vincent's  instructions,  nevertheless,  directed  him 
to  establish  an  English  school.  One  hundred  acres  of  land 
were  reserved  for  his  use.  As  teacher  he  was  voted  a  yearly 
salary  of  twenty  pounds  by  the  Governor's  Council  at  Halifax 
and  five  pounds  additional  by  the  Society  for  the  Propagation 
of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts.111 

Vincent's  appointment  added  fresh  impulse  to  the  prevalent 
discontent.  The  Germans  were  disappointed.  After  the  cold- 
ness shown  his  predecessor  they  entertained  the  hope  that  the 
educational  policy  would  undergo  some  modification  and  that 
their  wishes  would  be  consulted  in  the  selection  of  the  next 
teacher.  Although  Vincent  estimated  the  number  of  German 
children  in  the  settlement  under  twelve  years  of  age  to  be 
596,  none  of  them  came  to  his  school  for  instruction.112 

As  a  probable  remedy  for  the  provoking  situation  he  re- 
quested the  privilege  of  engaging  a  teacher  from  among  the 
Germans  to  assist  him  with  his  classes,  "for,"  he  said,  "the 
Germans  are  unwilling  to  have  an  English  education  if  it  costs 
them  anything."113  Gotlieb  Neuman,  who  had  taught  the  Ger- 
man children  prior  to  Vincent's  arrival,  accepted  the  proffered 
position.  Although  Neuman  enjoyed  a  measure  of  favor 
among  the  German  element,  the  administration  of  his  classes 
under  Vincent's  supervision  was  displeasing  to  them.  Vin- 
cent had  to  report  in  1764  that  the  people  of  Lunenburg  were 
very  indifferent  about  sending  their  children  to  be  taught. 
His  mission,  like  Bailly's  was  apparently  a  failure.  The 
Council,  at  least,  convinced  that  such  was  the  case,  withdrew 


lnPublic  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  204;  Reports  on  the  Canadian 
Archives,  1894,  p.  229. 

112Reports  on  the  Canadian  Archives,  1894,  p.  230. 
ntIoid.,  p.  239. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  47 

the  grant  of  twenty  pounds.  Left  with  but  the  S.  P.  G.  al- 
lowance of  five  pounds,  Vincent  was  obliged  to  discharge 
Neuman.114  Dissolution  of  the  school  followed  almost  im- 
mediately. 

Vincent's  failure  was  not  due  altogether  to  his  own  improv- 
idence. His  orders  relative  to  the  conduct  of  his  school  were 
explicit.  Mr.  Belcher  appreciated  his  efforts  and  in  his  be- 
half exhorted  the  Society  to  raise  his  status  thereby  making 
him  eligible  for  the  full  pay  of  a  schoolmaster.115 

Under  the  strain  and  worry  of  his  onerous  duties  Mr.  Vin- 
cent's health  began  to  fail  soon  after  the  breaking  up  of  the 
school.  His  last  official  communication  to  the  Council  is 
somewhat  pathetic — he  expresses  surprise  that  his  salary 
should  be  discontinued  without  premonition  and  prays  that 
the  allowance  for  rent  be  retained.  Following  this  appeal, 
he  resigned  and  setting  out  for  London  late  in  the  fall  of 
1765,  after  six  months  of  inactivity,  he  died  in  Halifax  on 
November  15.116 

In  the  chronicle  of  Jung,  of  contemporary  date,  the  school 
difficulty  at  Lunenburg  is  imputed  to  the  passive  attitude 
the  administrators  assumed  towards  the  educational  aspira- 
tions of  the  Germans.  They  saw,  he  said,  with  injured  feeling 
that  the  French  proprietors,  whom  they  outnumbered  five- 
fold, were  provided  with  a  teacher  at  the  moment  of  settle- 
ment while  they  were  constrained  to  wait  several  years  in  the 
hope  that  similar  recognition  would  be  taken  of  the  needs  of 
their  children.117  "And,"  continues  Jung,  "because  we  could 
no  longer  endure  to  see  the  pitiful  condition  of  our  children, 
growing  up  in  ignorance,  we  determined  to  wait  no  longer 
upon  our  superiors.  We  accordingly  made  the  necessary 
arrangements  among  ourselves  without  governmental  aid,  and 
finally  succeeded  in  securing  the  services  of  a  German  school 
teacher  in  the  year  1760."118  When  attendance  at  the  school 
was  good,  he  writes,  "hindrances  were  laid  in  our  way  by 
those  who  should  have  given  us  aid.    At  this  time  the  Kev- 


AIMd.,  p.  259. 

*Ibid.,  p.  229. 

°Ibid.,  pp.  264;   265. 

Tloth,  Luther  D.,  op.  cit.f  pp.  206-207. 

*Ibid.,  pp.  245-246. 


48  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

erend  Robert  Vincent  came  into  our  settlement  as  English 
missionary.  The  services  were  conducted  by  him  in  the  Eng- 
lish language.  He  took  our  German  schoolmaster  under  his 
patronage  and  control,  paying  him  a  salary  of  five  pounds 
per  annum.  .  .  .  The  German  language  was  entirely  abolished 
from  our  school,  and  the  order  was  issued  that  those  who 
would  not  study  the  English  language  would  not  be  allowed 

to   attend    the    school Through    this    the    school    was 

broken  up."119 

From  their  point  of  view  the  Germans  had,  no  doubt,  suffi- 
cient cause  for  complaint.  They  wanted  to  preserve  their 
religion  and  they  wished,  even  more  ardently,  perhaps,  to 
perpetuate  their  language.  Both  these  elements  were  in  jeop- 
ardy in  English  schools  supervised  by  Anglican  schoolmasters 
who  were  at  the  same  time  ministers  of  their  church. 

From  the  moment  of  their  arrival  in  Halifax  the  Germans 
showed  disappointment  with  the  prospects  the  country  offered 
for  settlement.  Likely  it  differed  considerably  from  what  had 
been  represented  to  them.  But  though  they  may  have  been 
misinformed  in  respect  to  conditions  obtaining  in  the  colony, 
they  had  no  cause  to  complain  that  they  had  been  deceived 
in  the  matter  of  schools.  No  mention  is  made  in  the  records 
of  the  period  of  assurances  made  the  Germans  that  they  were 
to  enjoy  educational  privileges  in  their  own  tongue.  Jung's 
criticism  of  government,  that  it  offered  no  support  to  the  Ger- 
mans in  providing  for  their  teachers,  seems  a  bit  unjust.  State 
documents  of  the  province  show  that  in  1754  four  pounds 
were  appropriated  by  the  Council  for  the  benefit  of  a  Lutheran 
teacher  at  Lunenburg.120  He  was  probably  Mr.  Sey.  As  he 
was  not,  apparently,  of  German  selection,  Jung  does  not 
reckon  him  one  of  their  teachers.  Later  on,  though,  as  in  the 
case  of  Neuman,  German  teachers  at  Lunenburg  received  com- 
pensation other  than  that  provided  by  the  inhabitants  them- 
selves, the  fact  that  they  taught  under  supervision  of  the 
English  school  put  them  outside  the  class  of  representative 
German  schoolmasters.  It  was  not  until  many  years  after 
the  departure  of  Vincent  that  the  Germans  at  Lunenburg 
procured  a  teacher  acceptable  to  their  wishes. 


™Ibid.,  pp.  245-246. 
120See  page  16. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  49 

Private  Schools  in  Halifax. — In  Halifax,  the  Orphan  School 
was  throughout  this  period  the  only  institution  for  the  public 
education  of  children.  Yet  among  the  older  people,  as  a  rule, 
a  fair  degree  of  scholarship  prevailed.  They  being  engaged 
usually  in  some  department  of  governmental  administration 
or  commercial  activity,  the  nature  of  the  work  stimulated 
learning  to  some  extent.  Many  of  the  inhabitants,  moreover, 
had  received  a  good  education  in  the  old  country.  Occasion- 
ally they  turned  their  talent  towards  private  tuition.  An  act 
passed  by  the  Council  on  the  10th  of  May,  1753,  dispensing 
schoolmasters  from  obligation  of  bearing  arms  in  the  militia 
helped  along  this  tendency.121 

In  the  absence  of  public  schools,  private  schools  made  their 
appearance  early  in  Halifax.  An  advertisement  in  the  first 
issue  of  the  Halifax  Gazette  of  date  March  23,  1752,  is  the 
first  notice  we  have  of  the  existence  within  the  town  of  a 
school  for  private  instruction : 

At  the  sign  of  the  hand  &  pen  at  the  south  end  of  Granville 
Street  are  carefully  taught  by  Leigh  &  Wragg,  spelling,  read- 
ing, writing  in  all  its  different  hands,  arithmetic  in  all  its 
parts,  merchants'  accompts,  or  the  true  method  of  bookkeep- 
ing in  a  new  and  concise  manner.  Likewise  all  parts  of  the 
Mathematics,  &  for  the  convenience  of  grown  people  improv- 
ing their  learning  any  of  the  above  arts  &  sciences  will  be 
taught  2  hours  every  evening  at  6  o'clock. 

N.  B.  The  above  Leigh  draws  engrosses  and  transcribes 
writing  of  all  kinds,  &  adjusts  accompts  of  ever  so  difficult  & 
will  keep  them  in  methodical  way  by  the  year. 

N.  B.  The  Mathematics  by  Wragg  the  other  parts  by 
Leigh.  Sold  at  the  above  place  Quill  pens  inks  writing  papers 
writing  and  spelling  books  &  slate  pencils.122 

Another  school  of  the  same  nature  but  of  humbler  preten- 
sion was  advertised  in  the  same  paper  on  March  26th  of  the 
same  year: 

Beading  school  for  children  kept,  &  gold  &  silver  lace 
cleaned  &  all  sorts  of  silk  also  mournings  stiffened  by  Eliza- 
beth Render  near  Mr.  Tutty's  new  house  on  Barrington  St.123 

A  private  school  offering  a  course  rather  encyclopedic  in 


121Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  209,  pp.  36  et  seq. 
122Halifax  Gazette,  Vol.  1,  No.  1,  March  23,  1752. 


12SIbid.,  March  26,  1752. 


50  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

scope  was  advertised  in  the  issue  of  the  Halifax  Gazette  for 
April  6th,  1752: 

At  the  Academy  in  Grafton  Street.  Young  men  are  speed- 
ily instructed  &  well  grounded  in  the  true  art  of  spelling  by 
rules  short  &  easy  but  expressive  &  comprehensible  to  almost 
the  youngest  capacity.  They  are  likewise  taught  reading 
writing  arithmetic,  French,  Latin  &  Dancing,  Algebra,  Geo- 
metry Trigonometry  both. plain  and  spherical  the  mensuration 
of  Planes  and  Solids  Surveying,  gauging  Navigation  Astron- 
omy taught  by  Trigonometry  or  without  any  at  all  by  a 
method  more  concise  than  can  be  effected  by  Trig,  &  much 
more  easy  to  comprehend  by  an  ordinary  capacity,  as  the 
great  &  learned  Mathematician  Mr.  Whiston  hath  testified  & 
may  be  proved  for  the  satisfaction  of  any  who  doubt  by  me 
Henry  Merton. 

N.  B.  Young  ladies  as  well  as  Gents  taught  dancing  every 
Wed.  &  Sat.  afternoon.124 

Although  newspaper  files  for  many  years  after  contain  no 
further  notices  of  this  description  it  seems  very  probable  that 
private  schools,  not  publicly  advertised,  existed  throughout 
the  city  in  the  meanwhile.  One  fact  corroborative  of  this 
opinion  consists  in  the  number  of  permits  to  teach  issued  by 
the  Governor  and  Bishop  before  the  passage  of  the  school 
law  of  1766.  The  Governor's  commission  book  shows  that  six 
licenses  to  teach  passed  under  the  great  seal  of  the  province 
during  that  period.  While  some  of  those  schoolmasters,  no 
doubt,  followed  their  avocation  in  some  of  the  outlying  town- 
ships some  of  them  remained  in  the  city.  Daniel  Shatford's 
school,  for  instance,  was  a  feature  in  the  educational  life  of 
Halifax  until  his  death  in  1774.125 

What  was  accomplished  educationally  in  Nova  Scotia  dur- 
ing this  period  was  not  extensive.  Until  1766  Halifax  and 
Lunenburg  were  the  only  centers  of  population  in  the  province 
where  the  need  of  schools  and  teachers  was  really  felt.  In 
the  remoter  parts  of  the  province  adjoining  the  Bay  of  Fundy 
and  vicinity,  in  consequence  of  the  efforts  of  Governor  Law- 
rence, extensive  areas  were  already  being  taken  up  by  immi- 
grants from  the  New  England  colonies  and  from  Protestant 


17*Ibid.,  April  6,  1752. 

12*Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  165. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  51 

Ireland.  But  before  1766  little  was  done  in  the  way  of  school 
establishment  in  these  districts. 

By  the  removal  of  the  French  in  1755  the  inland  sections  of 
Nova  Scotia  were  left  practically  deserted.  Even  while  in  the 
country  the  Acadians,  as  we  have  seen,  attracted  little  atten- 
tion educationally  except  in  so  far  as  their  conversion  was 
considered  from  time  to  time.  An  able  clergyman  of  theirs, 
the  Abbe  Maillard,  was  their  spiritual  adviser  for  many  years. 
He  was  in  good  standing  with  the  administrators  being  in 
the  latter  part  of  his  career  in  receipt  of  a  stipend  of  one  hun- 
dred pounds  from  the  Council  at  Halifax.126  His  knowledge 
of  the  Micmac  dialect  and  his  production  of  a  Micmac  gram- 
mar and  dictionary  were  regarded  as  remarkable  achieve- 
ments of  the  time. 

In  the  principal  settlement,  Halifax,  private  schools  com- 
bined with  home  instruction  provided  facilities  for  mental 
improvement  for  the  better  situated  class  of  children.  For 
the  more  ambitious  of  the  poorer  sort  means  of  acquiring  an 
elemental  education  was  afforded  by  the  Orphan  School.  In 
general  principle,  the  tutorial  system  in  vogue  in  Halifax  at 
this  time  represented  the  transfer  to  Nova  Scotia  of  ideals  in 
educational  method  then  in  general  observance  in  England. 

Educationally  the  most  noteworthy  issue  of  the  period  was 
the  development  of  a  school  program  for  the  province.  Un- 
fortunately for  future  school  expansion  it  made  education  a 
monopoly.  The  educational  intolerance  it  engendered  and 
the  animosity  and  dissatisfaction  it  created  gave  rise  to  many 
a  sharp  discussion  before  its  effects  were  finally  obliterated 
from  the  school  life  of  Nova  Scotia.  Its  influence  was  still 
apparent  well  on  into  the  middle  of  the  last  century. 


^Reports  on  the  Canadian  Archives,  1894,  p.  288. 


CHAPTEK   III 

A  PERIOD   OF   SETTLEMENT   AND   EDUCATIONAL   ORGANIZATION 

1766—1780 

The  settlement  of  Halifax,  although  constituting  a  land- 
mark in  the  history  of  Nova  Scotia,  did  not  materially  assist 
in  the  development  of  the  outlying  parts  of  the  province. 
The  only  evidence  of  Britain's  effort  to  people  Nova  Scotia  a 
decade  afterwards  was  to  be  seen  in  the  settlement  at  Hali- 
fax, the  few  families  stationed  at  Canso,  the  German  colony 
at  Lunenburg,  and  the  garrison  at  Annapolis.  The  interior 
of  the  country  was  yet  untouched  and  the  prospect  of  Nova 
Scotia  becoming  a  settled  colony  was  even  then  small.127  This 
gloomy  outlook  underwent  some  transformation,  however,  in 
the  few  succeeding  years  by  the  application  of  an  effective 
settlement  policy  by  Governor  Lawrence. 

Following  the  removal  of  the  Acadian  French,  Lawrence, 
in  1758,  sent  agents  amongst  the  colonists  of  New  England 
inviting  them  to  the  lands  lately  vacated  by  the  French  plant- 
ers in  the  vicinity  of  the  Bay  of  Fundy  and  Minas  Basin.128 
He  also  issued  an  appeal  for  settlers  from  abroad  and  pro- 
claimed the  policy  to  be  observed  in  making  grants  of  land 
in  every  county  and  township  into  which  he  proposed  to 
divide  the  unoccupied  lands.  His  plan  was  to  apportion  the 
land  in  townships  of  100,000  acres  each  in  which  allotments 
were  obtainable  by  prospective  settlers  in  either  large  or  small 
parcel.  In  some  instances  the  king's  mandamus  was  issued 
for  areas,  ten,  twenty  or  more  thousand  acres  in  extent.129 

As  a  result  of  the  application  of  those  measures  there  was 
in  the  year  1763  a  sprinkling  of  population  along  the  coast- 
line from  Halifax  westward  to  Cape  Sable  and  up  the  shore 
of  the  Bay  of  Fundy  to  the  isthmus  of  Chignecto..  Lunenburg 
comprising  the  three  townships,  Lunenburg,  Chester  and  New 
Dublin,  had  a  population  of  about  1,G00  people ;  Queens  County 

127Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  223,  Doc.  117. 
128Akins,  Thomas  B.,  A  Sketch  of  the  Rise  and  Progress  of  the  Church 
of  England,  etc.,  p.  31. 
^Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  223,  Doc.  117;  Vol.  346,  Doc.  10. 

52 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  53 

had  200  families  in  its  three  townships,  Liverpool,  Barring- 
ton  and  Yarmouth;  Annapolis  County  containing  two  town- 
ships— Annapolis  and  Granville — had  about  800  settlers;  the 
townships  of  Horton,  Cornwallis,  Falmouth  and  Newport 
forming  Kings  County  had  a  combined  population  of  2,000. 
Truro  Township  was  occupied  by  53  proprietors  and  Onslow 
by  52.  The  shore  from  Tatamagouche  to  Canso  was  unin- 
habited and  the  coast  from  the  latter  place  to  Lawrence  Town 
was  known  only  to  coasters  and  transient  fishermen.  The 
town  of  Halifax  itself  had  at  the  same  date  2,500  inhabit- 
ants.130 

The  School  Lands. — In  most  of  the  townships  laid  out  under 
Lawrence's  direction  lands  were  appropriated,  in  conjunction 
with  reservations  for  church  purposes,  for  the  maintenance  of 
a  school  and  the  support  of  a  schoolmaster.  By  the  year  1785 
the  school-land  reservations  in  31  townships  of  the  province 
aggregated  12,000  acres.131  A  list  indicating  the  location  of 
most  of  these  reservations  and  the  year  in  which  they  were 
made  follows:132 

1759,  600  acres  reserved  at  Chester 
1761,  600  acres  reserved  at  Horton 
1761,  600  acres  reserved  at  Newport 
1761,  400  acres  reserved  at  Falmouth 
1761,  400  acres  reserved  at  Cornwallis 
1763,  500  acres  reserved  at  Amherst 
1765,  500  acres  reserved  at  Jeddore 
1765,  500  acres  reserved  at  Truro 
1765,  500  acres  reserved  at  Onslow 
1765,  500  acres  reserved  at  Londonderry 
1765,  500  acres  reserved  at  Granville 
1767,  500  acres  reserved  at  Barrington 
1772,  500  acres  reserved  at  Annapolis 
1782,  400  acres  reserved  at  Windsor 
1784,  344  acres  reserved  at  Shelburne 
1784,  500  acres  reserved  at  Country  Harbor 
1784,  500  acres  reserved  at  Liverpool 
1784,  400  acres  reserved  at  Lunenburg 
1784,  600  acres  reserved  at  Sissibo. 


U0Ibid.,  Vol.  222,  Doc.  12;  Reports  on  Canadian  Archives,  1904,  p.  220. 
131Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  438,  Doc.  58;   Pascoe,  C.  F., 
op.  cit.,  p.  119. 

132Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  434,  Doc.  1. 


54  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

Additional  grants  were  made  from  time  to  time  and  oc- 
casionally the  area  of  the  old  reservations  increased.  For 
the  support  of  King's  College  numerous  tracts  of  varying 
extent  were  reserved  in  different  parts  of  the  province.  In 
1788,  402  acres  were  set  apart  for  school  purposes  at  Digby, 
and  in  1792,  400  acres  at  Dartmouth.  The  school  lot  at  Sis- 
sibo  (Weymouth)  was  enlarged  to  600  acres  in  1803,  and  in 
1810,  520  acres  were  appropriated  for  school  purposes  at  Yar- 
mouth.133 By  surveys  conducted  in  1813  previous  land  grants 
for  schools  were  supplemented  by  an  addition  of  4,625  acres 
comprising  tracts  in  twelve  settlements  in  different  parts  of 
the  province.134  These  latter  parcels  of  land  were  made  in 
favor  of  the  Chief  Justice  of  the  province  to  be  held  in  trust 
by  the  Bishop  and  the  Secretary. 

These  land  concessions  for  school  purposes  were  made  in 
conformity  with  the  agreement  of  the  Lords  of  Trade  with  the 
S.  P.  G.  in  1749;  the  Royal  Orders  issued  to  Governor  Corn- 
wallis  in  1749,  and  the  more  recent  instructions  given  Gov- 
ernor Lawrence  in  1756  authorizing  him  to  reserve  "a  par- 
ticular spot  in  or  near  each  town  for  the  building  of  a  church 
and  four  hundred  acres  adjacent  thereto  for  the  maintenance 
of  a  minister  and  two  hundred  acres  for  a  schoolmaster;"135 
and  to  retain,  likewise,  over  and  above  the  stated  amount,  one 
hundred  acres  in  each  township  free  of  quit  rent  for  ten  years, 
for  the  use  of  all  schoolmasters  sent  out  by  the  Society.136 
Prior  to  1766  ministers  of  the  Church  of  England  exercised  a 
sort  of  guardianship  over  the  school  plots  lying  in  their  re- 
spective parishes  pending  their  occupation  by  duly  appointed 
teachers. 

But  because  of  a  school  law  passed  by  the  Nova  Scotia  Legis- 
lature in  that  year  administration  of  all  school  lands  in  the 
province  was  vested  in  a  board  of  trustees  endowed  with  cor- 
porate powers.  Usually  the  ministers  of  the  parishes  in  which 
the  lands  were  situated  and  the  church  wardens  were  named 
trustees.  From  this  circumstance,  partly,  the  view  came  to 
prevail  that  the  original  intention  was  to  reserve  these  lands 


1S3IMd.,  Vol.  434,  Doc.  1. 

u*IMd.,  Vol.  348,  Doc.  11. 
™lMd. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  55 

exclusively  for  the  benefit  of  S.  P.  (x.  teachers  although  there 
had  been  no  express  agreement  to  that  effect.  The  school  lands 
were,  in  fact,  eventually  regarded  by  the  Society  as  being  part 
of  the  church  lands  and  in  some  cases,  as  for  instance  at  Yar- 
mouth, they  were  sold  and  the  proceeds  applied  for  the  use  of 
the  parish  church.137  During  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth 
century  when  the  educational  system  of  the  province  was  un- 
dergoing a  reorganization  and  the  tendency  was  to  divest  it 
of  its  denominational  character  the  school  lands  were  a  source 
of  great  annoyance  to  the  Legislature.  Proposals  were  made 
at  various  times  to  appropriate  them  for  general  educational 
purposes  but  on  every  occasion  the  S.  P.  G.  vigorously  resisted 
such  attempts. 

The  authority  reserved  to  the  Lord  Bishop  of  London  to 
verify  all  permits  to  teach  in  Nova  Scotia,  when  applied,  was 
a  means  of  confining  that  privilege  to  persons  professing  the 
creed  of  the  Established  Church  and  thereby  limiting  to  school- 
masters of  that  religious  denomination  exclusive  enjoyment 
of  lands  reserved  for  school  purposes.  Throughout  the  eight- 
eenth century  there  is  not  an  instance  to  be  found  in  which 
any  such  license  was  granted  to  any  other  than  a  schoolmaster 
employed  by  the  Society.138 

In  those  townships  in  which  the  school  lands  remained  un- 
occupied an  additional  difficulty  was  created  by  squatters  who 
from  time  to  time  established  themselves  upon  these  reserves 
and  protested  when  their  eviction  was  attempted.  Contentions 
resulting  from  this  circumstance  were  frequently  referred  to 
the  administration  at  Halifax  for  adjudication — notably  the 
difficulty  that  arose  in  connection  with  the  appointment  of 
Mr.  Fullerton,  teacher  to  Horton  township,  in  1791,139  and  the 
controversy  that  ensued  in  1802  when  it  was  attempted  to 
expel  squatters  who  had  settled  on  the  school  reservations  at 
Weymouth.140 

The  school  law  of  1811,  although  it  indicated  the  drift  to- 
ward non-denominational  schools,  made  no  attempt  to  make 
new  disposal  of  the  school  lands;  neither  did  the  more  com- 


mBrown,  George  S.,  op.  cit.,  p.  60. 

™Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  438,  Doc.  58. 

™Ibid.,  Vol.  411,  Doc.  21. 

li0IMd.,  Vol.  396B. 


56  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

prehensive  laws  of  1826  and  1832.  But  when  the  school  grants 
of  1813  were  made  an  arrangement  was  contracted  whereby 
they  came  under  the  control  of  the  Bishop  of  the  diocese  and 
two  trustees  of  the  township  in  which  they  were  located.141 
They  were  administered  in  this  manner  until  1838  when  it 
was  contended  in  the  Nova  Scotia  Legislature  that,  though  the 
church  and  clergy  lands  might  be  retained  for  the  sole  use  of 
the  Church  of  England  and  its  ministers,  the  school  lands 
should  revert  to  public  control  and  might  lawfully  be  applied 
to  general  educational  purposes.  Founded  on  this  assump- 
tion, resolutions  were  made  to  alienate  these  lands  from  the 
authority  of  the  S.  P..  G.  and  given  hearings  in  the  Assem- 
bly.142 

The  matter  was  brought  fairly  before  the  Imperial  Govern- 
ment in  1839  when  the  Provincial  Legislature  passed  "An 
Act  to  Provide  for  the  selection  and  appointment  of  Trustees 
of  Lands,  granted,  or  otherwise  allotted,  as  School  Lands,  or 
for  Schools  in  this  Province."  The  measure  provided  for  the 
appointment  of  three  trustees  in  every  township  and  district 
"to  take  possession  of  all  such  lands,  in  or  by  any  grant  or 
grants,  reserved,  granted  or  set  apart  for  Schools,  or  for  the 
use  of  Schools,  or  as  the  School  Lot,  or  as  School  Lands,  and 
to  improve  the  same,  and  to  Lease  the  same  for  any  term  not 
exceeding  Twenty-one  years,  to  the  best  advantage,  and  to  pay 
and  apply  the  rents  and  profits  of  any  such  Lands,  in  the  Edu- 
cation of  Poor  Children,  or  otherwise,  to  and  for  the  use  and 
benefit  of  Schools  in  such  Township  or  District."143  A  clause 
was  inserted  stipulating  that  nothing  in  the  act  was  to  be 
construed  so  as  to  invalidate  any  lease  on  school  lands  which 
had  already  undergone  legal  execution. 

Sir  Colin  Campbell,  then  Governor  of  Nova  Scotia,  with- 
held his  assent  to  the  measure,  submitting  it  to  the  Imperial 
Government  for  consideration.  On  this  occasion  the  Bishop 
of  Nova  Scotia  and  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the 
Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts  appealed   successfully  for  its   dis- 


141Eaton,  Arthur  W.  H.,  The  History  of  Kings  County,  Nova  Scotia, 
Salem,  Mass.,  The  Salem  Press  Company,  1910,  p.  269. 

142Akins,  Thomas  B.,  A  Sketch  of  the  Rise  and  Progress,  etc.,  pp.  31-32. 
Pascoe,  C.  F.,  op.  cit.,  p.  122. 

U3Laws  and  Statutes  of  Nova  Scotia,  1836-1840,  c.  32. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  57 

allowance.  A  statement  of  the  imperial  decision,  transmitted 
to  the  Nova  Scotia  Legislature  by  Lord  John  Kussell  in  Sep- 
tember, 1839,  indicates  the  intricate  nature  of  the  problem. 
It  is  as  follows  :144 

The  claim  advanced  by  the  Bishop  of  Nova  Scotia  extends 
to  the  whole  of  the  Lands  set  apart  for  Educational  objects, 
whether  already  appropriated  to  these  purposes,  or  already 
vested  by  the  Provincial  Act  of  1766,  in  the  hands  of  Trustees 
for  the  use  of  Schools.  Her  Majesty's  Government  are  of 
opinion,  that  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel, 
although  not  possessed  of  a  strict  Legal  Right,  have  estab- 
lished an  equitable  claim  to  that  portion  of  the  Land  which  is 
already  occupied  and  improved;  and  they  consider  that  the 
Society  should  be  left  to  the  entire  and  unreserved  possession 
of  it,  for  the  purpose  to  which  it  is  at  present  dedicated ;  set- 
ting aside  any  other  consideration,  the  Society  in  connexion 
with  the  Established  Church  of  England  and  Ireland,  have, 
by  the  extent  and  efficiency  of  their  arrangements,  for  dis- 
pensing the  benefits  of  education  throughout  the  Province, 
entitled  themselves  to  the  free  enjoyment  of  the  property. 

You  will  have  collected  from  what  I  have  now  stated,  that 
it  is  not  my  intention  to  advise  Her  Majesty's  Government  to 
assent  to  the  act  passed  in  the  last  Session  of  the  Provincial 
Legislature  entitled,  "An  Act  to  provide  for  the  Selection 
and  Appointment  of  Trustees  of  Lands  granted  or  reserved  or 
otherwise  allotted  as  School  Lands,  or  for  Schools  in  this 
Province."  The  legal  opinions  which  have  been  taken  on  this 
Act,  confirm  the  doubt  which  was  entertained  by  the  Govern- 
ment as  to  the  competency  of  the  Local  Legislature  to  exercise 
this  jurisdiction  over  the  Lands  in  question.  The  Act  passed 
is  open  to  the  strong  objection  that  it  extends  to  all  Lands 
originally  reserved  or  granted  for  the  purposes  of  Schools 
which  must  be  plainly  improper,  so  far  as  relates  to  Lands 
vested  in  Trustees  appointed  from  time  to  time  by  the  Gover- 
nor. Even  if  the  claim  of  the  Society  had  been ,  altogether 
rejected,  still  the  property,  not  having  been  found  to  be  with 
them,  would  devolve  on  the  Crown,  and  be  disposable  by  the 
Crown,  and  not  by  the  Local  Legislature.  But  independently 
of  what  I  have  already  Stated,  it  appears  to  me  that  the  Act 
is  liable  to  this  other  grave  objection,  that  it  seeks,  by  a  direct 
exercise  of  power,  to  enforce  a  settlement  of  a  question  em- 
bodying many  important  points  of  propriety  rights  and  equi- 
table consideration  which  only  could  be  satisfactorily  ar- 
ranged, after  a  full  examination  of  the  grounds  on  which  the 

^Journals  of  the  Nova  Scotia  House  of  -Assembly,  1839-1840. 


58  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

claims  of  the  parties  were  founded.  At  the  same  time  I 
should  wish  it  to  be  distinctly  understood  that  Her  Majesty's 
Government  do  not  express  any  dissent  from  the  general  views 
which  the  Legislature  appear  to  entertain,  were  they  to  be 
applied  to  a  matter  upon  which  they  could  be  allowed  to  oper- 
ate, with  Justice  to  the  Crown,  and  fairness  to  other  parties. 

Should  the  Provincial  Legislature  undertake  the  settlement 
of  the  rules  for  the  application  of  future  Grants,  Her 
Majesty's  Government  will  readily  concur  in  the  Provisions  of 
this  Act  for  the  management  of  any  Lands  which  may  here- 
after, from  time  to  time,  be  devoted  to  Educational  purposes. 

I  will  even  go  further  to  meet  the  views  of  the  Legislature 
of  Nova  Scotia. 

With  reference  to  the  unoccupied  portions  of  the  Lands 
already  granted,  Her  Majesty's  Government  are  not  prepared 
to  admit  the  claim  of  the  Society.  Neither  are  they  prepared 
to  state  the  mode  of  appropriation  which  it  would  be  just  and 
proper  to  adopt  with  regard  to  this  portion  of  the  Lands.  I 
entertain  strong  doubts,  whether,  in  departing  from  the  view 
taken  by  the  Society  as  to  their  equitable  title  to  these  lands 
also,  it  might  not  be  proper  in  a  certain  degree  to  qualify  that 
dissent,  and  to  admit  their  claim  to  a  portion  of  them.  Her 
Majesty's  Government  feel  every  disposition  to  meet  the  views 
of  the  Society,  and  to  aid  their  exertions  for  this  great  public 
object;  and  it  would  prove  highly  satisfactory  to  them  if,  by 
mutual  concession  on  the  part  of  the  parties  interested,  this 
embarrassing  question  could  be  satisfactorily  arranged.  I 
would,  therefore,  suggest  for  your  consideration,  whether  it 
might  not  be  practicable  to  relieve  the  Government  from  the 
further  discussion  of  this  question  by  the  appointment  of  a 
Commission  which  might  distinguish  those  Lands  upon  which 
the  care  and  the  Funds  of  the  Society  had  been  bestowed 
from  those  which  had  been  left  altogether  waste  and  unprofit- 
able. Upon  the  Report  of  such  a  Commission,  might  be 
framed  some  measure  in  the  Provincial  Legislature,  with  the 
Concurrence  of  the  Government,  by  which  a  partition  of  these 
reservations  should  be  made,  leaving  one  portion  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  Schoolmasters  of  the  Society,  and  the  other  for 
the  purposes  of  Education  generally.  Some  such  arrange- 
ment provided  it  were  so  clearly  defined  as  not  to  lead  to  liti- 
gation, although  it  would  not  meet  the  claims  of  either  party, 
might  be  accepted  by  both  as  a  means  of  reconciling  those 
differences  which  cannot  be  protracted  without  injury  to  the 
province  generally,  and  more  to  that  important  object  which 
all  parties  have  in  view. 

Another  attempt  was  made  by  the  Assembly  in  1850  to  make 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  59 

legal  disposal  of  the  school  lands.  The  legislative  enactment 
of  that  year,  entitled  "An  Act  Concerning  School  Lands  and 
the  Appointment  of  Trustees  therefor,"  was  very  similar  in 
design  to  the  act  of  1839.  It  provided  for  the  appointment  of 
three  trustees  in  every  county  and  township  who,  acting  as  a 
corporate  body,  were  to  assume  control  of  the  school  lands 
within  their  respective  localities.  With  the  acquiescence  of 
the  Governor  and  Council,  they  were  empowered  to  lease,  sell 
or  dispose  of  the  reservations  as  they  saw  fit.145  A  strong 
appeal  for  its  rejection  was  again  made  by  the  Bishop  of  the 
province  and  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  GospeL 
The  memorandum  of  the  latter — a  voluminous  document  of 
more  than  half  a  hundred  foolscap  pages — recapitulates  the 
manner  in  which  the  Society  acquired  its  original  educational 
privileges  in  Nova  Scotia  and  advances  its  claims  to  the 
school  lands  on  the  grounds  of  priority  of  occupation,  expense 
incurred  in  their  development  and  uniform  tacit  acquiescence 
of  Government  of  the  Society's  exclusive  right  to  them.146 

As  a  result  of  these  representations  the  bill  met  the  same 
fate  at  the  hands  of  the  Imperial  Government  as  did  its  pre- 
decessor. In  view  of  the  similarity  of  the  measure  to  that  of 
1839,  Lord  Grey,  in  replying,  stated  his  surprise  that  no  ex- 
planation had  accompanied  it  indicating  the  grounds  for  its 
presentation.  Attorney  General  Uniacke  pointed  out  that  the 
present  bill  differed  from  its  predecessor  in  that  it  subjected 
the  trustees  to  the  recommendations  of  the  Governor  whereas 
the  former  bill  simply  required  that  the  trustees  report  an- 
nually to  the  General  Sessions  of  the  Peace.  The  principal 
objection  to  the  bill,  as  stated  in  Lord  Grey's  letter,  was  that 
it  appeared  to  give  the  Lieutenant  Governor  authority1  to 
eject  from  their  trusts  trustees  of  the  school  lands-  howsoever 
appointed,  jeopardizing  thereby  the  position  of  those  trustees 
appointed  in  connection  with  the  S.  P.  G.  He  considered, 
therefore,  that  "it  would  be  unjust  to  take  away  from  the 
Society,  Land  on  which  it  had  incurred  expense  for  the  objects 
of  its  intentions;  and  that  the  Crown  could  not  be  advised 


usActs  of  the  General  Assembly  of  Nova  Scotia,  1845-1851,  c.  19. 
U9Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  438,  Doc.  58. 


6G  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

to  be  a  party  to  such  a  proceeding."147  But  since  it  was  the 
opinion  of  the  imperial  authorities  that  the  Crown  held  all 
waste  lands  in  the  province,  Lord  Grey  went  on  to  say  that 
he  was  not  prepared  "to  contest  the  right  of  the  Local  Legis- 
lature to  make  such  changes  as  may  be  thought  expedient  in 
the  subsisting  arrangements  with  regard  to  lands  still  held 
by  the  Crown,  and  upon  which  no  expenditure  had  been  in- 
curred by  the  Society."148  This  was  an  important  deviation 
from  the  attitude  the  Imperial  Government  assumed  towards 
the  bill  of  1839,  and,  as  matters  transpired,  proved  to  be  a 
means  of  overcoming  the  difficulty. 

Following  the  recall  by  the  S.  P.  G.,  about  1834,  of  its 
schoolmasters  from  Nova  Scotia,  not  only  the  school  lands 
that  had  never  been  applied  to  their  intended  purpose,  but 
likewise  those  that  had  been  at  one  time  under  occupation 
passed  into  the  category  of  "waste  lands" ;  and  the  Provincial 
Government,  acting  on  the  assumption  of  an  indirect  permis- 
sion accorded  in  1850,  has  from  time  to  time  disposed  of  them 
as  it  saw  fit. 

When  the  counties  of  the  province  were  erected  into  munici- 
palities in  1879,  the  school  lands,  in  most  cases,  became  vested 
in  the  municipality  in  which  they  were  located.  As  occasion 
arose,  the  Local  Government  has  granted  appeals  made  by 
those  subordinate  government  units  for  permission  to  admin- 
ister their  own  school  areas.  Usually  those  lands  have  been 
appropriated  for  the  purpose  of  general  education.  In  some 
municipalities  they  have  been  sold  or,  where  retained,  let 
out  on  lease  and  the  proceeds  applied  to  help  along  "poor" 
sections.  In  some  parts  of  the  province  they  still  remain  un- 
touched. The  Society,  no  longer  having  teachers  in  the  prov- 
ince, has  in  a  quiet  way  renounced  its  original  claim  to  the 
school  lands  and  has  not  attempted  to  interfere  in  their  set- 
tlement under  the  education  laws  of  the  province. 

Early  Schools  of  Kings  County. — The  rapid  increase  in  pop- 
ulation attendant  upon  Governor  Lawrence's  appeal  for  set- 
tlers in  1759  and  1760  created,  in  some  sections,  a  correspond- 
ingly greater  demand   for  better  educational   facilities   and 


^Journals  of  the  Nova  Scotia  House  of  Assembly,  1851,  appendix  9. 
8Ibid. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  61 

more  teachers.  Kings  County  was  the  first  in  the  province  to 
profit  by  the  immigrations.  Horton  and  Cornwallis  town- 
ships were  settled  by  Connecticut  planters  in  1759 ;  Falmouth 
by  Rhode  Islanders.  Others  from  Massachusetts  and  New 
Hampshire  joined  them  soon  afterwards.  In  the  four  town- 
ships that  then  made  up  Kings  County — Horton,  Cornwallis, 
Falmouth,  and  Newport — there  were  1,717  inhabitants  in 
1763.  Being  intelligent  people,  many  of  them  were  anxious 
to  secure  an  education  for  their  children.149 

Reporting  to  Halifax  in  the  year  1763,  Reverend  Joseph 
Bennett,  missionary  to  the  district,  stated  that  there  were  951 
children  in  his  constituency  for  whom  teachers  were  urgently 
needed.  Neither  church  nor  school  had  yet  appeared  in  this 
considerable  area  and  as  a  consequence  there  was  danger  of 
those  children  growing  up  in  a  lamentable  state  of  igno- 
rance.150 The  inhabitants  of  Horton,  the  most  populous  town- 
ship in  the  county,  in  which  there  were  375  children,  had 
already  signified  their  willingness  to  co-operate  in  any  effort 
to  provide  them  with  a  teacher  by  starting  a  subscription 
among  themselves  for  his  support.151  A  similar  spirit  pre- 
vailed throughout  the  other  townships.  Mr.  Bennett,  there- 
fore, recommended  that  two  schoolmasters  be  appointed  for 
the  district.  The  proposal  was  endorsed  by  Mr.  Belcher  and 
the  legislature  appropriated  twenty  pounds  for  their  sup- 
port.152 The  allowance  was  too  small  and  Mr.  Bennett  re- 
luctantly reported  the  following  year  that  his  attempt  to  get 
teachers  on  the  small  compensation  he  could  offer  was  inffec- 
tual.  He  suggested  the  transfer  of  the  money  to  Halifax. 
But  three  years  later,  in  1767,  Kings  County  got  its  first 
teacher,  Mr.  Samuel  Watts,  who  had  been  licensed  to  teach 
by  Governor  Lawrence  in  1759.  Mr.  Watts  taught  his  school 
at  Windsor  in  the  present  county  of  Hants,  receiving  a  stipend 


""Hawkins,  Ernest,  Historical  Notices  of  the  Missions  of  the  Church 
of  England  in  the  North  American  Colonies  Previous  to  the  Independ- 
ence of  the  United  States,  London,  1845,  p.  363. 

180Hawkins,  Ernest,  op.  cit.,  pp.  363-364;  Reports  on  the  Canadian 
Archives,  1894,  p.  238. 

^Reports  on  the  Canadian  Archives,  1894,  p.  266. 

ls2Ibid.,  p.  266. 


62  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

of  ten  pounds  per  annum  from  the  Society  and  a  supple- 
mental amount  from  the  proprietors.153 

Another  teacher,  Mr.  Haliburton,  also  a  licentiate  of  the 
Society,  came  to  Windsor  in  1769.  In  the  same  year  Mr.  Ben- 
nett stated  that  Haliburton  had  fourteen  scholars  under  his 
tuition.154 

No  further  information  of  schools  in  the  Kings  district 
before  1780  is  available.  But  it  is  probable  that  the  county 
enjoyed  neighborhood  schools  prior  to  this  date  and  that  oth- 
ers also  existed  of  which  we  have  no  record.  Writing  in  1771, 
Mr.  Bennett  said:  "We  have  got  a  small  Chapel  at  Windsor 
which  answers  for  Church  for  me,  for  a  Meeting-house  when- 
ever a  Dissenting  Minister  happens  to  come  that  way  in  my 
absense,  and  for  a  school-house  on  week  days.  It  was  built 
by  subscription  of  the  inhabitants  indiscriminately."155 

Early  Schools  of  Annapolis. — After  the  departure  of  Watts 
in  1739  difficulty  was  experienced  in  procuring  a  chaplain 
for  Annapolis.  An  invitation  was  extended  to  a  Reverend 
Mr.  Clarke,  missionary  at  Dedham,  Massachusetts,  to  settle 
in  the  township  but  according  to  Hawkins  the  engagement 
was  not  contracted.156  In  1763,  when  Reverend  Thomas 
Wood,  traveling  missionary  to  the  western  districts  of  the 
province,  visited  Annapolis,  he  found  800  persons  there  desti- 
tute of  all  religious  care.  He  therefore  engaged  James  Wilkie, 
a  resident  of  the  place,  to  act  as  catechist  to  the  inhabitants. 
Mr.  Wilkie  also  did  similar  service  for  the  people  of  the 
neighboring  township  of  Granville.  So  successful  was  he  with 
his  school  that  in  1J6§^  he  was  granted  a  license  by  the  Gov- 
ernor and  his  name  placed  on  the  list  of  S.  P.  G.  teachers 
for  the  province.157  His  burdens  were  lightened  the  same  year 
by  the  appointment  of  John  Morrison  instructor  and  catechist 
for  the  township  of  Granville.  Morrison,  like  Wilkie,  enjoyed 
the  patronage  of  the  S.  P.  G.  His  license  was  procured 
the  same  time  as  Wilkie's.158 

During  the  last  year  of  Wood's  ministry,  Nathaniel  Fisher 


wIbid.,  p.  239;  Eaton,  Arthur  W.  H.,  op.  cit.,  p.  334. 

mAkins,  Thomas  B.,  A  Sketch  of  the  Rise  and  Progress,  etc.,  p.  24. 

1MHawkins,  Ernest,  op.  cit.,  pp.  363-364. 

™Ibid.,  p.  363. 

iaiReports  on  the  Canadian  Archives,  1894,  pp.  246,  265. 

lwPublic  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  165,  p.  386. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  63 

was  schoolmaster  for  Annapolis  and  Granville.  As  there  was 
for  a  time  after  Mr.  Wood's  death  in  1778  no  minister  sta- 
tioned in  this  district  Fisher  was  accustomed  to  read  the 
prayers  and  preach  on  Sunday  to  the  inhabitants  of  these 
townships.159  For  this  reason  we  sometimes  find  him  referred 
to  as  rector.  He  was  relieved  of  the  religious  function  by 
Joshua  Wingate  Weeks  in  1781.  Weeks,  assisted  by  a  young 
clergyman  named  Bailey,  was  rector  of  the  three  townships, 
Annapolis,  Granville  and  Clements.160  He  was  not,  however, 
the  first  resident  clergyman  of  the  district,  for  Mr.  Wood,  to- 
wards the  latter  part  of  his  life,  was  located  permanently  at 
Annapolis.  Wood's  interest  in  education  is  indicated  by  his 
achievement  in  producing  a  grammar  and  dictionary  of  the 
Micmac  tongue.  In  pursuing  this  work  he  was  greatly  assist- 
ed by  what  had  previously  been  accomplished  in  this  direction 
by  the  French  Catholic  priest,  M.  Maillard. 

Schools  in  Yarmouth  and  Queens  Counties. — In  the  town- 
ships of  Queens  County,  the  school  lands  seem  to  have  re- 
mained vacant  much  longer  than  did  those  of  Annapolis  and 
Kings.  When  Liverpool  township  was  surveyed,  one  share 
was  set  apart  for  the  maintenance  of  a  school.  The  same  rule 
was  observed  in  laying  out  Yarmouth  township.  But  how- 
ever numerous  may  have  been  private  schools,  we  do  not  hear 
of  schools  being  in  operation  in  this  section  of  the  province 
until  the  arrival  in  force  of  the  Loyalists  during  the  eighties. 

With  the  exception  of  Lunenburg  and  outside  of  Kings  and 
Annapolis  Counties,  the  same  observation  is  true  as  regards 
other  districts  of  Nova  Scotia.  In  1759,  Truro  and  Onslow 
began  to  be  settled,  and  in  1766  these  townships  with  the 
Londonderry  region  had,  according  to  Governor  Francklin,  a 
combined  population  of  694.161  Londonderry  was  settled 
about  1761  chiefly  by  Protestant  settlers  from  the  north  of 
Ireland  brought  out  by  the  planter,  Alexander  McNutt.  New 
Dublin  township,  contiguous  with  Chester,  was  granted  to 
Connecticut  proprietors  in  1760,  but  remained  practically  un- 


ls*Ibid.,  Vol.  136. 

lWCalnek,  W.  A.,  History  of  the  County  of  Annapolis,  Toronto,  Wil- 
liam Briggs,  1897,  p.  297. 

mMurdoch,  Beamish,  A  History  of  Nova  Scotia  or  Acadie,  Halifax, 
James  Bowen,  Printer  and  Publisher,  1866,  Vol.  2,  p.  463. 


64  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

occupied  until  regranted  to  Germans  somewhat  later.  Pictou 
began  to  be  settled  in  1767-1768  and  following  years  by  fam- 
ilies from  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland.162  Nothing  of  educa- 
tional note,  however,  was  done  in  these  settlements  for  an- 
other decade  or  more.  In  other  parts  of  the  Province  settle- 
ment did  not  begin  to  any  extent  until  the  arrival  of  the  Loy- 
alists. It  should  be  noted,  however,  that  in  1770  the  Society 
for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in,  Foreign  Parts  had 
seven  schoolmasters  and  six  missionaries  laboring  in  Nova 
Scotia.163 

Schools  in  Lunenburg. — In  Lunenburg,  upon  retirement  of 
Reverend  Mr.  Vincent,  Mr.  Bryzelius  was  ordained  to  fill  the 
vacancy.  This  gentleman  was  a  native  of  Sweden,  and  prior 
to  this  time  had  labored  as  teacher  in  New  Jersey  and  in 
Pennsylvania.  He  arrived  in  Lunenburg  in  1767,  an  appointee 
of  the  S.  P.  G.164 

The  government  gratuity  of  twenty  pounds  per  year  for  the 
benefit  of  a  German  schoolmaster,  .revoked  shortly  before 
Vincent's  dismissal,  was  not  renewed.  Nevertheless  the  ex- 
pense account  for  Lunenburg  returned  to  the  Provincial  Gov- 
ernment the  next  year  contained  an  entry  of  twenty  pounds 
in  payment  of  the  services  of  two  schoolmasters.  Governor 
Francklin,  although  he  allowed  the  appropriation  to  stand, 
reminded  the  administrators  of  the  township  that  such  grant 
had  been  discontinued  and  directed  that  in  future  no  such 
expense  should  be  contracted  in  the  name  of  the  province.165 
The  teachers  for  whom  this  money  was  intended  were  likely 
of  German  selection. 

The  Germans  did  not  take  kindly  to  Mr.  Bryzelius.  When 
his  successor,  Reverend  Peter  De  La  Roche,  arrived  in  1771 
they  gave  expression  to  their  displeasure  by  separating  them- 
selves from  the  congregation  and  erecting  a  house  of  worship 
of  their  own.166  De  La  Roche,  nevertheless,  succeeded  in  pre- 
vailing upon  the  people  of  his  mission,  in  1773,  to  build  a 
school-house  for  the  French  and  assist  them  in  the  support  of 


iMIbid.,  p.  510. 

,63Hawkins,  Ernest,  op.  cit.,  p.  159,  note  1. 

,<uAkins,  Thomas  B.,  A  Sketch  of  the  Rise  and  Progress,  etc.,  p.  19. 

1MPublic  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  136. 

1MAkins,  Thomas  B.,  A  Sketch  of  the  Rise  and  Progress,  etc.,  p.  19. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  65 

their  schoolmaster,  Keverend  Mr.  Baily.  Their  contribution, 
Hawkins  informs  us,  consisted  of  forty  bushels  of  grain  and 
twenty-four  cords  of  wood.167 

The  success  attending  De  La  Roche's  efforts  was  a  source 
of  satisfaction  to  the  administrators.  Receding  from  its  for- 
mer aloofness  the  Government  offered  to  give  "any  allowance 
or  assistance  in  its  power  as  soon  as  a  person  well  qualified 
should  be  found  to  teach  the  English  language"  and  in  every 
other  respect  proper.168  The  school  lands  that  had  lain  un- 
occupied since  Vincent's  departure  were  also  transferred  to 
the  new  schoolmaster. 

These  arrangements  led  to  the  renewal  of  Neuman's  license 
in  1782  and  the  appointment  of  Francis  Rudolf  in  the  same 
year  to  teach  an  elementary  school  at  Lunenburg.  In  1785, 
a  teacher  in  harmony  with  their  wishes  was  secured  for  the 
people  of  Lunenburg.  He  was  John  Philip  Aulenbach,  a 
native  of  Hanover,  who  had  come  to  Shelburne  with  the  New 
England  immigrants  in  1783.  The  Germans  engaged  him  to 
teach  in  the  parochial  school  and  to  lead  the  singing  in  the 
Lutheran  Church.169  During  a  prolonged  illness  of  pastor 
Schmeisser,  Mr.  Aulenbach  officiated  in  holding  public  divine 
service,  read  services  over  the  dead  and  gave  catechetical  lec- 
tures in  the  Lutheran  church.  He  did  lengthy  service  to  the 
people  of  Lunenburg,  retaining  his  post  in  the  parochial 
school  until  his  death  in  1820.170 

Schools  in  Halifax. — In  Halifax,  the  Orphan  School'  suffered 
a  period  of  deterioration  owing  principally  to  the  incompe- 
tent management  of  Mr.  Sharrock's  successor,  Buchanan.  He 
was  dismissed  from  service  in  1762  for  not  being  able  to  ac- 
count for  the  adverse  financial  standing  of  the  school.171  But 
a  multiplication  of  private  schools  provided  for  the  educa- 
tional needs  of  the  children  of  the  Capital. 

In  the  issue  of  the  Nova  Scotia  Chronicle  and  Weekly  Ad- 
vertiser for  October  10-17,  1769,  there  appears  the  following 
advertisement : 


"'Hawkins,  Ernest,  op.  cit.,  pp.  358-359. 

16SPublic  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  136. 

1MRoth,  Luther  D.,  op.  cit.,  p.  363. 

110Ibid.,  op.  cit.,  p.  364. 

^Reports  on  the  Canadian  Archives,  1894,  p.  230. 


66  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

At  the  House  of  Mr.  Lewis  Beloud 
There  is  to  commence  immediately 


NIGHT  SCHOOL 

Where  Youth  will  be  carefully  taught  &  instructed 
in  Reading,  Writing,  Arithmetick,  and  the  principal 
Branches  of  the  Mathematics,  together  with  Book- 
keeping in  all  its  Parts,  according  to  the  most  ap- 
pro v'd  Method  now  in  Use;  Any  who  are  inclined  to 
learn  the  chief  or  particular  Branch  of  the  aforesaid, 
may  expect  it  on  the  most  reasonable  Terms;  and 
their  Favours  gratefully  acknowledged  by 

L.  Beloud. 
N.  B.     Any  Gentleman  or  Lady,  who  chooses  to 
learn  French  or  Dancing  shall  be  attended  on,  in 
Schooll  or  private  Hours.172 

On  the  first  of  November,  1774,  Robert  M'Gowan,  through 
the  columns  of  the  Chronicle  and  Advertiser,  gave  notice  to 
"young  Gentlemen  apprentices  and  others  of  this  town"  that 
he  intended  "beginning  to  keep  Evening  School,  upon  Tues- 
day night  1st  of  November  from  six  to  eight"  where  he  would 
teach  writing,  arithmetic  and  bookkeeping.  He  solicited  the 
attendance  of  "such  young  gentlemen  as  incline  to  spend  the 
evening  for  their  improvement  in  any  of  these  branches."173 

James  Tanswell,  who  came  to  Halifax  in  1774,  opened  a  pri- 
vate school  in  town  the  following  year.  His  advertisement  in 
the  Nova  Scotia  Gazette,  and  Weekly  Chronicle  on  August  15, 
1775,  reads:  "School  will  be  opened  To-morrow  morning  as 
usual,  Tanswell."174 

Samuel  Scott  started  an  evening  school  in  Halifax  in  1779 
offering  instruction  in  writing,  bookkeeping,  mensuration, 
land  surveying,  gauging,  navigation,  dialing,  architecture,  etc. 
The  school  was  advertised  to  begin  on  October  25th  and  to 
continue  throughout  the  winter.  Hours  of  study  were  from 
six  to  nine  every  evening.176    Another  school,  to  teach  the  pri- 


™Nova  Scotia  Chronicle  and  Weekly  Advertiser,  October  10-17,  1769, 
Vol.  1,  No.  42. 

"*The  Nova  Scotia  Chronicle  and  Weekly  Advertiser,  November  1, 
1775,  Vol.  5,  No.  1. 

"'Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  301,  Doc.  18. 

116Ibid.,  October  19,  1779. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  67 

mary  branches,  was  opened  in  Halifax  the  following  year  by 
Samuel  Gray.176 

It  seems  evident  that  the  work  of  those  private  schools  was 
supplemented  to  a  considerable  extent  by  instruction  given  at 
home  under  parental  direction.  Among  the  more  intellectual 
element  of  the  population  indications  are  that  this  practice 
was  very  prevalent.  We  read  in  the  Nova  Scotia  Gazette  and 
Weekly  Chronicle  of  date  November  2,  1779,  that  on  the  next 
evening  a  lecture  would  be  delivered  at  Mr.  Willis'  assembly 
room,  a  leading  feature  of  which  would  be  an  exposition  "of 
the  method  of  Teaching  young  children  to  read  both  Prose 
and  Verse."  The  announcement  states  further  that  the  lec- 
ture would  be  illustrated  by  readings  from  Shakespeare,  Pope 
and  Addison.  That  a  commercial  enterprise  should  hope  to 
obtain  a  paying  audience  by  appealing  to  the  pedagogical  and 
literary  tastes  of  the  Halifax  public  seems  to  be  a  fair  indi- 
cation of  a  diffused  interest  in  education  among  the  people 
of  the  Capital. 

The  Itinerant  Teacher. — The  prototype  of  the  Halifax  pri- 
vate schoolmaster  throughout  the  sparsely  settled  districts  of 
the  province  was,  in  those  days,  the  itinerant  schoolmaster. 
His  appearance  was  consequent  on  the  enhanced  need  for 
teachers  after  the  immigrations  of  1760  and  following  years 
and  the  inability  of  the  S.  P.  G.  teachers  to  meet  all  edu- 
cational demands  of  the  settlers. 

He  was  a  quaint  figure,  this  traveling  schoolmaster,  in  the 
social  life  of  early  pioneer  days.  Fortified  with  a  fund  of 
knowledge  that  often  did  not  transcend  the  limits  of  the  three 
R's  he  wandered  from  village  to  village  and  from  house  to 
house  instructing  for  his  keep  or  a  small  fee.  His  meager 
store  of  knowledge  he  supplemented  by  an  inexhaustible  fund 
of  fable  and  witticisms  committed  to  memory  for  the  delecta- 
tion of  his  pupils  or  the  entertainment  of  his  host  by  the  fire- 
side at  night.  On  account  of  his  congenial  companionship  he 
usually  made  his  presence  in  the  village  very  agreeable. 

Thomas  C.  Haliburton,  in  the  Clockmaker,  has  immortalized 
the  memory  of  this  odd  character,  the  traveling  teacher.  He 
introduces  him  to  us  carrying  a  small  bundle  in  his  hand  tied 


™Ibid.,  September  26,  1779. 


68  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

up  in  a  dirty  silk  pocket  handkerchief  and  dressed  in  an  old 
suit  of  rusty  black.  His  appearance  was,  moreover,  fre- 
quently marred  by  traces  of  the  evil  effects  of  an  inordinate 
use  of  intoxicating  liquors.  And  still  if  his  appearance  and 
conduct  were  not  always  such  as  would  pass  modern  scrutiny 
as  edifying  to  the  classroom,  he,  nevertheless,  possessed  a  sort 
of  pioneer  roughness,  a  rude  sincerity,  that  reflected  hardi- 
hood, not  unsuited  to  the  times,  on  the  children  he  taught. 
"Grim  and  rough  as  he  was,  there  were  streaks  of  kindness 
in  his  heart  if  you  could  ever  strike  them."  And  if  his  knowl- 
edge was  not  encyclopedic,  he  at  least  knew  how  to  impart 
effectively  the  information  he  possessed. 

The  traveling  schoolmaster  had  an  individual  system  of 
pedagogics — the  fruit  of  personal  experience.  The  instru- 
ments of  teaching  he  usually  supplied  himself.  Books  were 
scarce  but  Bibles  and  religious  tracts  carefully  harbored  by 
some  literary  family  in  the  community  were  frequently  bor- 
rowed for  reading.  For  writing,  almost  anything  susceptible 
to  the  imprint  of  a  pencil  might  be  requisitioned  for  use  in  the 
classroom.  Haphazard  as  was  his  teaching  the  influence  of 
the  itinerant  teacher  was  not  without  its  merit  in  days  when 
schools  were  few  and  an  education  hard  to  get. 

The  School  Law  of  1766. — The  school  conducted  by  the  free- 
lance itinerant  teacher  enjoyed,  of  course,  no  legal  recogni- 
tion and  consequently  received  no  encouragement  from  Gov- 
ernment or  the  S.  P.  G.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  those  school- 
masters were  regarded  with  no  little  amount  of  suspicion  and 
disfavor  both  by  the  administration  and  the  Society.  The 
latter,  especially,  looked  upon  their  activities  as  open  infringe- 
ment on  a  right  reserved  for  its  schoolmasters  alone. 

Moreover,  when  the  need  for  teachers  was  acute,  zealous 
parents  did  not  stop  to  challenge  the  religious  views  of  the 
traveling  teacher  before  entrusting  their  children  to  him  for 
instruction.  This  was  a  matter  prejudicial  to  the  stated 
school  policy  of  the  province.  It  was,  to  a  large  extent,  to 
check  this  custom  and  to  curtail  the  freedom  the  itinerant 
teacher  enjoyed  that  the  school  law  of  1766  was  enacted.  The 
ostensible  intent  of  the  school  legislation  of  that  year  was  to 
re-assert  the  lawful  control  of  educational  activities  in  Nova 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  69 

Scotia  by  the  S.  P.  G.,  as  a  law  of  1758  had  proclaimed  the     | 
Church  of  England  the  legal  religious  form  of  worship  within 
the  province. 

Jonathan  Belcher,  writing  to  the  Society  for  the  Propa- 
gation of  the  Gospel  in  1763,  deeply  deplored  the  rejection,  by 
the  Local  Assembly,  of  a  measure  "to  restrain  the  means  of 
instruction  and  the  institution  of  schools"  and  the  unfortu- 
nate passing  of  a  bill  "vesting  in  nominees  of  freeholders 
powers  belonging  to  parish  churches  and  vesteries."177  He  was 
apprehensive  lest  some  harm  should  result  from  undue  exer- 
cise of  discretionary  powers  in  the  selection  of  teachers.178 
He  recommended  to  the  Society  that  it  make  rigorous  and  im- 
mediate effort  to  send  schoolmasters  to  those  districts  in  the 
province  in  which  no  representative  teachers  were  located. 

Failing  to  secure  a  repeal  of  this  measure,  Mr.  Belcher,  on 
June  10,  1766,  introduced  a  bill  into  the  Council  for  the 
"Establishment,  Regulation  and  Support  of  Schools."  It  was 
submitted  immediately  to  its  first  and  second  reading  but, 
because  of  its  importance,  the  Council  resolved  itself  into  a 
committee  of  the  whole  board  to  consider  its  provisions.  The 
report  being  heard,  the  bill  was  engrossed  with  some  amend- 
ments. It  underwent  further  modification  at  the  hands  of 
the  Assembly.  In  these,  the  Council  refused  to  concur.  To 
avoid  its  complete  rejection,  a  conference  committee  was 
appointed  by  both  branches  of  the  Legislature  and  a  com- 
promise reached.  The  bill  received  the  Governor's  assent  on 
July  5,  1766. 

The  first  clause  of  section  one  of  the  act  provided  for  the 
licensing  of  grammar  school  teachers  throughout  the  province. 
It  did  not  attempt  to  specify  the  necessary  scholastic  require- 
ments of  the  applicant  but  it  stated  the  manner  in  which  such 
a  license  was  to  be  secured,  leaving  it  to  the  judgment  of  the 
issuing  parties  to  decide  when  the  candidate  possessed  eligi- 
ble qualifications.  Obviously  its  design  was  to  abolish  the 
system  of  indifferent  teaching  practiced  in  the  outlying  settle- 
ments by  unauthorized  teachers.  The  license  thus  secured 
was  of  local  application  and  could  be  obtained  by  submitting 


''Reports  on  the  Canadian  Archives,  1894,  p.  248. 
"Ibid. 


70  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

to  an  examination  by  the  parish  minister  or,  in  his  absence, 
I  by  two  justices  of  the  peace  who  made  the  necessary  recom- 
mendation to  the  Governor.  Ratification  by  the  latter  was 
necessary  before  a  license  became  valid.  The  whole  of  this 
clause  is  as  follows : 

Be  it  enacted  ~by  the  Commander-in-Chief,  and  Assembly, 
that  no  person  shall  hereafter  set  up  or  keep  a  grammar 
school  within  this  Province,  till  he  shall  first  have  been  exam- 
ined by  the  minister  of  such  town  wherein  he  proposes  to  keep 
such  grammar  school,  as  to  the  qualifications  for  the  instruc- 
tion of  children  in  such  schools ;  and  where  nominister  shall 
be  settled,  such  examination  shall  be  made  byliwo  Justices  of 
the  Peace,  for  the  county,  together  with  a  certificate  from  at 
least  six  of  the  inhabitants  of  such  town,  of  the  morals  and 
good  conduct  of  such  schoolmaster,  which  shall  be  transmitted 
to  the  Governor,  Lieutenant-Governor,  or  Commander-in-Chief, 
for  the  time  being,  for  obtaining  a  license  as  by  His  Majesty's 
royal  instruction  directed.179 

The  succeeding  clause  of  the  same  section  had  particular 
reference  to  the  schools  of  Halifax.    It  stipulated : 

That  no  person  shall  set  up  or  keep  a  school  for  instruction 
of  youth  in  reading,  writing,  or  arithmetic,  within  the  town- 
ship of  Halifax,  without  such  examination,  certificate  and  li- 
cense, or  in  any  other  manner  than  is  before  directed;  and 
every  such  schoolmaster  who  shall  set  up  or  keep  a  school  con- 
trary to  this  Act,  shall  for  every  offence,  forfeit  the  sum  of 
three  pounds,  upon  conviction  before  two,  Justices  of  the 
Peace  of  the  county  where  such  person  shall  so  offend,  to  be 
levied  by  warrant  of  distress,  and  applied  for  the  use  of  the 
school  of  the  town  where  such  offence  shall  be  committed. 

Nowhere  in  the  act  is  intimation  given  as  to  what  class  of 
institution  is  alluded  to  by  the  designation  "grammar  school." 
But,  since  prior  to  the  opening  of  the  grammar  school  at 
Halifax  in  1789,  there  existed  nowhere  in  the  province  an 
educational  institution  approximating  our  conception  of  a 
grammar  school,  we  might  reasonably  suppose  that  the  fram- 
ers  of  the  law  had  in  mind,  when  they  drafted  this  clause  of 
the  act,  the  schools  of  the  province  generally;  while  the 
additional  clause,  covering  in  an  especial  manner  the  schools 


™Laws  and  Statutes  of  Nova  Scotia,  c.  7,  Sec.  1. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  71 

of  Halifax,  was  in  their  view  designed  to  regulate  the  man- 
agement of  the  several  private  schools  of  the  Capital. 
Section  2  of  the  act  provided  that : 

No  person  shall  presume  to  enter  upon  the  said  office  of 
schoolmaster  until  he  shall  have  taken  the  oaths  appointed 
to  be  taken  instead  of  the  oaths  of  allegiance  and  supremacy, 
and  subscribed  the  declaration  openly  in  some  of  His  Majesty's 
courts,  or  as  shall  be  directed  by  the  Governor,  Lieutenant- 
Governor,  or  Commander-in-Chief  for  the  time  being,  and  if 
any  popish  recusant,  papist,  or  person  professing  the  popish 
religion,  shall  be  so  presumptuous  as  to  set  up  any  school 
within  this  Province,  and  be  detected  therein,  such  offender 
shall,  for  every  such  offence,  suffer  three  months  imprison- 
ment without  bail  or  mainprize,  and  shall  pay  a  fine  to  the 
King  of  ten  pounds,  and  if  any  one  shall  refuse  to  take  the 
said  oaths  and  subscribe  the  declaration,  he  shall  be  deemed 
and  taken  to  be  a  popish  recusant  for  the  purposes  so  before 
mentioned. 

This  section  in  combination  with  the  preceding  one  dis- 
closes evidence  of  the  intention  of  the  law  to  confine  the 
privilege  of  teaching  in  the  province  to  adherents  of  the  Es- 
tablished Church  alone.  Although  the  express  disabilities  it 
inflicted  on  Catholics  disguised,  in  a  measure,  this  purpose, 
subsequent  developments  revealed  the  true  nature  of  its  pro- 
visions. 

Section  3  reaffirmed  the  land  grants  for  school  purposes  and 
made  provision  for  their  administration  by  trustees. 

And  whereas  his  Majesty  has  been  pleased  to  order  that 
jour  hundred  acres  of  land  in  each  toionship,  shall  be  granted 
to  and  for  the  use  and  support  of  schools,  he  it  enacted,  That 
said  quantity  of  lands  shall  be  vested  in  trustees  for  said  pur- 
pose, and  such  trustees  shall  be  and  are  hereby  enabled  to  sue 
and  defend  for  and  on  behalf  of  such  schools,  and  to  improve 
all  such  lands  as  shall  be  most  for  the  advantage  and  benefit 
thereof. 

The  merits  of  the  law  as  a  whole  were  not  exceptional.  It 
did,  by  the  license  regulations  it  imposed,  attempt  to  give  a 
semblance  of  uniformity  to  our  schools  and  it  helped  to  pro- 
tect children  from  any  deleterious  influences  to  which  they 
might  have  been  exposed  by  the  teaching  of  free-lance  school- 
masters.   But  its  terms  were  more  negative  than  positive.    It 


72  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

tended  to  deprive  settlements  of  teachers  of  their  own  choice 
and  it  made  little  or  no  provision  to  replace  them  by  duly 
qualified  ones.  If  it  did  not  impede  educational  progress  it 
can  scarcely  be  credited  with  having  accelerated  the  free  de- 
velopment of  schools  in  the  province.  With  the  exception  of 
the  clauses  of  the  excise  law  of  1794,  which  provided  financial 
assistance  for  schools  by  imposing  an  additional  tax  of  three 
pence  per  gallon  on  all  light  wines  entering  the  ports  of  the 
province,  it  was,  however,  the  only  school  law  of  general  appli- 
cation to  the  province  passed  by  the  local  legislature  in  the 
eighteenth  century.180 

Licensing  of  Schoolmasters. — The  sections  of  the  school  law 
of  1766  dealing  with  the  licensing  of  schoolmasters,  which  is 
the  principal  feature  of  the  act,  were  promulgated  in  accord- 
ance with  the  royal  instructions  addressed  from  time  to  time 
to  the  governors  of  the  province.  A  special  order  issued  to 
Governor  Phillips  in  the  year  1729  directed  him  to  apply  to 
the  province  the  school  regulations  then  in  force  in  His 
Majesty's  colony  of  Virginia.181  These  in  part  decreed  that 
"no  schoolmaster  be  henceforth  permitted  to  come  from  this 
kingdom  (Great  Britain)  to  keep  school  in  that  Our  said 
Colony  without  the  license  of  the  said  Lord  Bishop  of  Lon- 
don; and  that  no  other  person  now  there  or  that  shall  come 
from  other  parts  shall  be  admitted  to  keep  school  in  Virginia 
without  your  license  first  obtained."182  Identical  instructions 
were  given  Governor  Wilmot  of  Nova  Scotia  in  1764.183 

The  first  license  issued  to  a  schoolmaster  in  Nova  Scotia  is 
entered  in  the  Governor's  Commission  Book  for  the  year  1759. 
The  Reverend  John  Breynton,  Rector  of  St.  Paul's  Church, 
Halifax,  having  by  authority  of  the  Governor's  warrant  ex- 
amined certain  applicants  for  teachers'  permits,  reported  on 
September  6th  of  that  year  to  Secretary  Bulkeley  as  follows: 

Sir: 

In  Obedience  to  His  Excellency  the  Governor's  Directions 
to  me,  signified  by  warrant  dated  the  3rd  Instant,  I  have  en- 


1S0Laws  and  Statutes  of  Nova  Scotia,  1794. 
1B1Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  348,  Doc.  3. 
wIbid.,  Vol.  348,  Doc.  4. 
wIbid.,  Vol.  249,  Doc.  9. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  73 

quired  and  strictly  examined  into  the  Life  &  Conduct  and 
other  requisite  Qualifications  of  Daniel  Shatford,  Lewis  Be- 
loud,  and  Samuel  Watts  to  keep  Schools  in  this  Province; 
You  will  therefore  be  pleased  to  lay  before  His  Excellency  the 
following  report. — 

Daniel  Shatford  was  born  in  Glocester  Shire  and  brought 
up  in  the  Church  of  England  and  now  declares  himself  of  that 
persuasion.  He  received  a  School  Education  under  his  Father 
a  professed  Schoolmaster  and  was  himself  licensed  for  the 
same  Occupation  by  the  Bishop  of  Glocester.  Since  his  ar- 
rival in  America  he  instructed  Youth  with  Success  and  Repu- 
tation in  New  York  in  several  Branches  of  useful  Knowledge. 
Upon  the  Strictest  Enquiry,  I  find  him  well  qualified  to  teach 
Grammar  and  the  lower  Latin  Classes,  Writing,  Arithmetic, 
Bookkeeping  and  Navigation. 

Lewis  Beloud,  a  native  of  the  Canton  of  Berne  in  Switzer- 
land was  bred  a  Protestant  as  appears  by  his  Credentials. 
He  and  his  wife  may  be  very  useful  in  teaching  Children  to 
read  English  or  French. 

Samuel  Watts  was  born  in  London,  brought  up  a  Protestant 
Dissenter  and  professes  himself  such  now.  He  formerly 
taught  School  among  Several  English  Families  settled  at 
Esequebo  under  the  Dutch  Government,  but  lost  his  Testi- 
monials by  a  Shipwreck.  I  find  him  capable  of  teaching  Eng- 
lish, Writing  and  Arithmetic. 

I  am  with  all  due  esteem 

Sir, 
Your  Most  Obedient  humble  Servant, 

(Signed)  John  Breynton. 
Halifax 

6  Sept.  1759, 

To  Richard  Bulkeley  Esq 
Secretary."184 

In  consequence  of  these  recommendations  the  several  par- 
ties were  licensed  by  the  Governor.  Below  is  given  the  form 
of  Mr.  'Shatford's  certificate  which  became  a  type  for  subse- 
quent permits  of  this  kind : 

By  His  Excellency  Chas.  Lawrence, 
Esquire  &  & 
License  is  hereby  granted  to  Daniel  Shatford  to  keep  a 
School  at  Halifax  for  teaching  Writing,  Arithmetic,  Book- 
keeping, Navigation,  English  and  Latin,  he  appearing  quali- 
fied and  having  taken  the  Oaths/  of  Allegiance,  Supremacy  and 
Abjuration  This  License  to  continue  during  good  behavior. 

19tPublic  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  165,  pp.  3-4. 


74  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

Given  under  my  Hand  &  seal  at  Halifax 
this  Eighth  day  of  September  1759. 
(Signed)   Chas.  Lawrence. 
By  His  Excellency's  Command 

Richard  Bulkeley,  Secy 
Mr.  Daniel  Shatford,  Schoolmaster."185 

Mr.  Beloud  and  Mr.  Watts  were  given  permission  to  keep 
school  in  Halifax  also,  the  former  to  teach  English  and 
French,  the  latter  English,  writing  and  arithmetic.  No  ex- 
press mention  is  made  in  Beloud's  commission  that  his  wife 
received  authority  to  assist  him  in  his  work.  But  from  the 
nature  of  Dr.  Breynton's  recommendation  we  might  infer  that 
she  secured,  at  least,  an  implicit  permission  to  do  so.  If  this 
supposition  is  correct,  Mrs.  Beloud  was,  so  far  as  records 
show,  the  first  woman  to  obtain  official  permission  to  teach 
in  Nova  Scotia  after  the  conquest. 

As  we  have  noted  elsewhere,  Mr.  Shatford  kept  school  in 
Halifax  until  his  death  in  1774.  Mr.  Beloud,  according  to  an 
advertisement  in  the  Weekly  Advertiser  of  Halifax  in  1769, 
appears  by  this  time  to  have  acquired  the  privilege  of  teach- 
ing several  subjects  in  addition  to  those  enumerated  in  his 
license  cited  above.  The  name  of  Mr.  Watts  appears  in  the 
state  papers  of  1767  as  recently  appointed  schoolmaster  to 
Windsor. 

In  the  Governor's  Commission  Book,  also  for  the  year  1759, 
is  recorded  a  letter  written  by  Mr.  Bulkeley  to  Dr.  Breynton 
requesting  him  to  examine  into  the  qualifications  of  Mr.  John 
Walker  who  had  made  application  for  permission  to  keep 
school.186  Dr.  Breynton  finding  him  qualified  to  teach  read- 
ing, writing  and  common  arithmetic,  a  license  \  %  granted 
him  for  this  purpose.  The  next  license  recorded  x  that  of 
Gotlieb  Neuman  to  keep  an  English  school  at  Lunenburg  in 
1760.187  There,  as  we  have  seen,  Neuman  became  assistant  to 
the  Reverend  Mr.  Vincent.  Another  license  was  granted  in 
1762  to  James  Juan  to  keep  a  school  in  Halifax  for  teaching 
Latin,  French,  writing,  arithmetic  and  bookkeeping  during 
good  behavior. 


™Ibid.,  p.  5. 
1MIbid.,  p.  21. 
,87/bid.,  p.  79. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  75 

We  read  in  the  Commission  Book  for  1765  record  of  the 
license  granted  John  Morrison  to  teach  writing,  arithmetic, 
bookkeeping,  navigation,  English  and  Latin.  His  license, 
procured  on  submission  to  the  usual  oaths,  was  to  continue 
during  pleasure.  On  the  same  date  a  similar  license  was  pro- 
cured for  James  Wilkie.  Both  these  gentlemen  kept  school 
in  Annapolis  County  where  they  were  pioneers  in  their  pro- 
fession.188 

The  last  teachers'  certificate  issued  under  the  old  policy  was 
that  of  William  Lynch  dated  March  31,  1766,  bestowing  on 
him  authority  to  teach  a  classical  school  at  Halifax;189  and 
the  first  granted  according  to  the  provisions  of  the  law  of 
1766  was  Mr.  Joshua  Tufts'.  Another  was  granted  Edward 
Broadfield  in  November,  1768,  to  teach  an  elementary  school 
in  Halifax  followed  by  a  license  for  Henry  Foster  in  1772  to 
open  a  school  in  the  same  place.190  Elias  Jones  secured  per- 
mission to  establish  a  classical  school  in  Halifax  in  1770.191 
A  purely  mathematical  school  was  started  by  Joseph  Peters 
in  Halifax  in  1773.  The  course  Peters'  school  offered  com- 
prised "Practical  Geometry,  Mensuration  of  Superficies  and 
Solids,  Trigonometry  and  the  Art  of  Navigation."192  Mr.  Kob- 
ert  M'Gowan,  who  conducted  an  evening  school  in  Halifax  in 
1774,  procured  his  license  from  the  Governor  that  same  year. 

The  Commission  Book  gives  record  of  three  certificates  to 
teach  in  Halifax  in  1777:  To  James  Tanswell  to  conduct  a 
school  chiefly  classical,  to  Samuel  Gray  to  teach  an  elemen- 
tary school,  and  to  John  Wenamor  to  keep  a  school  of  the 
same  standard.193  Among  the  subjects  enumerated  in  Mr. 
Tanswell's  program  we  find  mentioned,  logic,  geography  and 
the  use  of  the  globes.  An  equal  number  of  permits  were 
issued  the  following  year  the  recipients  being  Samuel  Scott, 
Joseph  Hastings  and  James  Done.  The  next  entry  is  for  the 
year  1784  when  John  Leslie  and  Jacob  Foreman  were  com- 
missioned to  teach  in  Halifax.    Then  come  the  licenses  of  1786 


1S8IMd.,  p.  386. 
™lMd.,  p.  253. 
™md.,  Vol.  170,  p.  3. 
191IMd.,  p.  61. 
™Ibid.,  p.  102. 
19SIMd.,  pp.  233-234. 


76  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

to  George  Grant,  James  Fullerton  and  George  Glynne.  Ful- 
lerton's  license  bears  the  clause  "this  license  to  continue  dur- 
ing good  behavior  and  not  teaching  any  religious  doctrines."194 
It  was  renewed  in  1790  when  Fullerton  was  made  S.  P.  G. 
teacher  at  Horton.  Glynne  is  perhaps  the  man  who  Patterson 
says  taught  in  Pictou  County  about  the  beginning  of  the  nine- 
teenth century.195 

With  the  erection  of  Nova  Scotia  into  a  bishopric  of  the 
Anglican  Church  in  1787,  a  slight  change  was  made  in  the 
manner  of  granting  the  teachers'  license.  The  certificate 
which  up  to  this  time  required  the  assent  of  the  Lord  Bishop 
of  London  was  henceforth  to  be  rendered  valid  when  approved 
by  the  Bishop  of  the  province.  In  the  case  of  non-conformist 
teachers,  however,  the  seal  of  the  province  was  sufficient  from 
now  on  to  give  the  certificate  legality.  The  royal  instructions 
to  the  Governor  of  the  province  on  the  subject  were  as  follows : 

It  is  Our  Will  and  Pleasure  that  no  person  shall  be  allowed 
to  keep  a  School  in  the  Province  under  your  Government, 
without  your  License  first  had  &  obtained. 

In  granting  which  you  are  to  pay  the  most  particular  at- 
tention to  the  Morals  and  proper  Qualifications  of  the  Per- 
sons applying  for  the  same,  and,  in  all  Cases  where  the  School 
has  been  founded,  instituted  or  appointed  for  the  Education  of 
Members  of  the  Church  of  England  or  where  it  is  intended 
that  the  School-Master  should  be  a  Member  of  the  Church  of 
England,  you  are  not  to  grant  such  Licenses  except  to  Per- 
sons who  shall  first  have  obtained  from  the  Bishop  of  Nova 
Scotia,  or  one  of  his  Commissioners,  a  Certificate  of  their  be- 
ing properly  qualified  for  that  Purpose.196 

Development  of  the  Province. — Before  the  end  of  this  period 
considerable  accessions  had  been  made  to  the  population  of 
Nova  Scotia  by  the  arrival  of  numerous  refugees  from  the  Old 
Colonies  and  Scots  from  Scotland.  Wherever  those  people 
settled  they  remained,  in  a  measure,  isolated.  The  principal 
means  of  communication  between  even  the  most  populous  set- 
tlements was  still  by  water,  when  the  village  happened  to  be 


wIbid. 

"'Patterson,  Reverend  George,  A  History  of  the  County  of  Pictou, 
Nova  Scotia,  Montreal,  1877,  p.  157. 

^Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  172,  p.  1;   Vol.  349,  Doc.  37. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  77 

by  the  seashore  or  on  the  banks  of  a  navigable  stream.  In  the 
interior  sections  intercourse  was  had  by  means  of  blazed 
paths  through  the  forest.  It  was  reported  to  the  Board  of 
Trade  in  1768  that  the  population  of  the  province  was  about 
15,000.  The  inhabitants  were  settled  in  communities  "ex- 
tremely dispersed  and  extended"  and  communication  between 
them  was  "greatly  interrupted  by  water  and  almost  impass- 
able woods  and  roads."197 

A  road  was  begun  from  Halifax  to  Sackville  in  1769.198 
The  following  year  a  lottery  was  started  to  raise  money  to  de- 
velop a  highway  system  for  the  province.  The  first  regular 
post  between  Halifax  and  Annapolis  was  started  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1785,  a  courier  making  the  distance  between  the  two 
places  once  a  fortnight.199  The  next  year  commissioners  were 
appointed  by  the  Governor  to  supervise  the  construction  of 
roads  between  the  principal  settlements  in  the  province. 
Work  was  begun  in  this  year  on  the  highway  between  Halifax 
and  Rawden-Douglas. 

The  difficulty  of  securing  an  education  under  circumstances 
so  unfavorable  may  be  readily  imagined.  The  most  efficient 
schools  in  the  province  were  as  yet  of  mediocre  standard  even 
in  the  most  populous  districts  and  they  stood  long  distances 
apart,  separated  by  stretches  of  virgin  forest  traversed  by  an 
occasional  road  or  path.  To  reach  them  enterprising  pupils 
sometimes  made  long  and  difficult  journeys  on  horseback. 
Efforts  of  this  kind,  indicative  of  the  high  regard  our  ances- 
tors had  for  learning,  become  more  conspicuous  towards  the 
latter  part  of  this  period  as  the  land  began  to  be  settled  by 
men  of  a  scholarly  type  of  mind. 

Until  the  end  of  the  century,  however,  there  must  have  been 
people  in  sparsely  settled  districts  of  the  province  as  yet  en- 
tirely unacquainted  with  the  methods  of  schools.  They  had, 
as  patron  of  learning,  the  traveling  schoolmaster,  conspicuous 
still  by  his  oddity  and  urbanity.  Though  the  school  law  of 
1766  challenged  his  authority  to  teach,  prevailing  conditions 
saved  him  from  extinction  for  many  years  yet. 


™Ibid.,  Vol.  43,  Doc.  37. 

lwReports  on  the  Canadian  Archivest  1894,  pp.  296,  298. 
1MAkins,  Thomas  B.,  History  of  Halifax,  Publications  of  the  Nova 
Scotia  Historical  Society,  1895,  Vol.  8,  p.  89. 


78  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

As  the  enactment  of  that  year  made  no  attempt  to  provide 
a  permanent  fund  for  teachers  these  continued  to  be  de- 
pendent for  support  on  pupils'  fees  and  yearly  grants  by  Gov- 
ernment. The  latter  amounted  in  1777  to  440  pounds,  re- 
newed by  annual  appropriations  until  the  end  of  the  cen- 
tury.200 While  in  the  beginning  this  sum  might  have  been 
sufficient,  it  became  very  inadequate  as  settlement  progressed. 
Though  it  seems  likely  that  there  were  individuals  in  the 
province  possessed  of  the  requisite  qualifications  to  make  ef- 
ficient teachers,  the  remuneration  offered  was  "too  miserably 
insufficient"  to  attract  them  to  the  service.  With  the  support 
they  enjoyed  from  abroad,  the  S.  P.  G.  schoolmasters  were 
much  better  situated  than  their  competitors,  but  at  no  time 
did  they  become  numerous  enough  to  equal  the  demand.  In 
1787,  their  number  in  Nova  Scotia  had  dwindled  to  five.201 
Some  years  later  we  find  three  of  them  stationed  at  conve- 
nient points  along  the  eastern  shore  of  the  province.202  A 
royal  order  in  1787,  translating  to  the  Governor  and  Bishop 
authority  to  grant  teachers'  licenses,  brought  the  schools  of 
the  province  more  directly  under  local  control;  and  it  was 
not  until  about  this  time,  when  the  Loyalists  were  well  estab- 
lished, that  education  in  Nova  Scotia  really  began  to  progress. 


200Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  344,  Doc.  4. 
201Akins,  Thomas  B.,  A  Sketch  of  the  Rise  and  Progress,  etc.,  pp. 
38-39. 

20tIbid.,  p.  29. 


CHAPTER  IV 

A   PERIOD    OF    EDUCATIONAL    EXPANSION 

1780—1811 

Establishment  of  the  Halifax  Grammar  School. — As  an  edu- 
cational institution  the  Halifax  private  school  had  its  limita- 
tions. A  most  apparent  shortcoming  lay  in  the  management 
of  its  classes. 

For  continued  existence  the  private  school  was  dependent 
on  revenue  accruing  from  pupils'  fees  alone.  Every  child  in 
attendance  was  required  to  pay  an  individual  fee  fotf  in- 
struction. This  had  the  effect  of  limiting  the  activities  of 
the  school  and  confining  its  patronage  to  but  a  small  pro- 
portion of  the  whole  population  of  the  town.  Usually  the 
tuition  rates  varied  with  the  number  of  scholars  in  attend- 
ance, but  generally  they  were  beyond  the  means  of  a  great 
many  children.  This  was  especially  true  in  the  case  of  large 
families  where  parents,  no  matter  how  desirous,  would  find  it 
difficult  to  provide  for  the  education  of  all  their  children 
when  the  instruction  for  each  one  had  to  be  paid  for  individ- 
ually. On  the  other  hand  negligent  parents,  though  they  had 
the  means,  were  not  always  so  enthusiastic  about  the  educa- 
tion of  their  children  as  to  feel  impelled  to  make  the  outlay 
necessary  to  send  them  to  private  schools.  As  a  result  a  great 
many  children  were  being  allowed  to  grow  up  in  Halifax  des- 
titute of  even  an  elementary  education,  to  suffer  those  evils 
attending  an  insufficient  educational  discipline. 

Mr.  Tanswell,  teacher  in  Halifax  in  1777,  called  attention 
to  the  unsatisfactory  educational  conditions  prevailing  in 
the  Capital.  He  pointed  out  to  the  House  of  Assembly  that 
in  default  of  that  body's  taking  the  initiative  in  providing  a 
capable  school,  "immorality  and  vice  were  daily  increasing 
among  our  youth,  the  fatal  consequences  of  which  ought  to 
make  every  parent  tremble  and  every  well  disposed  person 
contribute  his  aid  towards  stemming  so  pernicious  a  tor- 
rent."203    He  expressed  the  belief  that  "a  public  school  prop- 


"*Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  301,  Doc.  18. 

79 


80  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

erly  established  would  be  the  means  and  only  means  of  pro- 
moting an  universal  decorum,  learning  and  virtue." 

The  school  lands  that  had  been  reserved  for  educational 
purposes  in  the  township  of  Halifax,  unlike  those  in  the  set- 
tled portions  of  the  outlying  districts  of  the  province,  were 
allowed  to  remain  in  their  original  state  of  non-cultivation 
for  many  years.  In  1775,  Governor  Legge  called  the  attention 
of  the  Secretary  of  State  to  this  circumstance.  His  commu- 
nication to  the  Imperial  Government  stated: 

There  has  been  lands  within  the  Town  of  Halifax,  which 
have  been  set  apart  and  promised  by  a  former  Governor  for  a 
Public  Grammar  School.  His  Majesty's  former  instructions 
ordered  four  hundred  acres  to  be  granted  for  that  use,  but  it 
has  not  been  carried  into  execution.  As  the  inhabitants  have 
many  likely  children  to  bring  up  who  will  be  serviceable  to 
the  Public,  I  think  such  an  appropriation  of  the  public  lands 
will  greatly  promote  the  Establishment  of  a  School,  and  they 
may  be  granted  out  of  lands  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Town 
now  vacant  and  others  liable  to  forfeiture  had  I  orders  for  so 
doing.204 

The  13th  session  of  the  5th  General  Assembly,  that  met  in 
1780,  took  up  the  consideration  of  these  proposals.  In  Oc- 
tober of  that  year,  a  motion  was  made  before  the  Assembly 
by  Mr.  Shaw  "that  the  House  do  take  into  consideration  the 
establishing  of  a  Public  School  in  such  part  of  the  Province 
as  shall  be  thought  most  proper."205  This  motion  led  to  the 
appointment  of  a  committee  consisting  of  Mr.  Brenton,  At- 
torney-General, Mr.  Newton,  Colonel  Tonge,  Mr.  Cunningham, 
Mr.  Shaw  and  Mr.  Cochran  to  consider  the  feasibility  of  the 
recommendations.  In  its  report,  returned  to  the  House,  the 
Committee  signified  its  approval  of  Mr.  Shaw's  resolution  and 
recommended  a  legislative  appropriation  for  the  erection  of  a 
public  school  at  Halifax  with  an  additional  allowance  to  pay 
the  salary  of  a  competent  teacher.  The  bill  framed  by  the 
committee  was  as  follows: 

Whereas  every  public  attention  to  the  education  of  youth  is 
of  the  utmost  importance  in  Society,  and  whereas  it  is  im- 
practicable to  procure  a  person  sufficiently  qualified  for  that 


™Ibid.,  Vol.  44,  Doc.  74. 

,05Murdoch,  Beamish,  op.  cit.,  Vol.  2,  p.  609. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  81 

purpose,  without  making  handsome  and  liberal  provision,  for 
his  easy  support  and  maintenance: 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Lieutenant-Governor,  Council  and  As- 
sembly That  a  sum  not  exceeding  fifteen  hundred  pounds,  be 
granted  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  a  proper  and  convenient 
building  in  the  town  of  Halifax,  for  keeping  a  public  School, 
which  sum  shall  be  raised  in  manner  hereafter  to  be  directed 
by  the  General  Assembly. 

And  be  it  also  enacted,  That  a  sum  not  exceeding  one  hun- 
dred pounds  be  annually  granted  in  the  estimate  for  the  ex- 
penses of  government  for  the  support  of  a  Schoolmaster,  and 
when  the  number  of  scholars  shall  exceed  forty,  that  a  further 
allowance  of  fifty  Pounds,  yearly  be  included  in  the  said  esti- 
mate for  the  assistance  of  the  said  master  in  the  support  of 
an  usher,  which  the  said  master  shall  in  that  case  provide.206 

The  measure,  having  passed  its  third  reading  in  the  House 
on  October  28th,  was  submitted  to  the  Council  on  the  same 
date  for  concurrence.  It  was  accompanied  by  a  bill  provid- 
ing for  the  raising  of  1,500  pounds  by  lottery  to  defray  the 
cost  of  erecting  the  schoolbuilding.  Clauses  were  also  incor- 
porated in  the  latter  making  for  the  appropriation  of  one 
hundred  pounds  annually  to  pay  for  a  principal  and  fifty 
pounds  for  an  usher  or  assistant  when  the  number  of  pupils 
in  attendance  exceeded  fifty.207  Both  bills  were  favorably 
commented  on  by  the  Council.  The  only  improvement  that 
body  advised  was  that  the  drawing  of  the  lottery  be  divided 
into  two  parts.208 

The  wisdom  of  the  device  of  raising  money  for  public  pur- 
poses by  the  institution  of  a  lottery  was  questionable.  It  was 
regarded  as  tending  to  detract  the  attention  of  government 
officials  from  "a  spirit  of  industry  and  attention  to  their 
proper  callings,"  and  of  providing  a  ready  means  for  dishon- 
est persons  to  perpetrate  frauds  and  abuses.  The  first  in- 
stance of  its  being  used  in  Nova  Scotia  was  in  1759,  when 
money  was  procured  in  that  way  for  building  a  market  in 
Halifax.     In  1769,  Governor  Campbell   received  instructions 


™Laws  and  Statutes  of  Nova  Scotia,  1780. 

™ Journals  of  the  Proceedings  of  the  Nova  Scotia  House  of  Assembly 
1780. 

™Ibid. 

The  Minutes  of  the  Council  for  this  year  state  that  the  bills  passed 
under  the  hand  of  the  Governor  on  October  16. 


82  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

not  to  give  his  assent  to  any  act  for  raising  money  by  public 
lottery  before  transmitting  a  draft  of  the  measure  to  the 
sovereign.209  When,  therefore,  in  the  following  year  an  act 
was  passed  by  the  local  Legislature  to  raise  one  thousand 
pounds  by  lottery  for  building  roads  in  the  province,  Governor 
Campbell,  in  conformity  with  these  instructions,  reserved  his 
assent  to  the  measure  pending  receipt  of  the  royal  directions. 
The  Lords  of  Trade  on  that  occasion  recommended  its  en- 
dorsement on  the  grounds  of  expediency  though  they*  saw 
"objections  to  the  principle."210 

Administrator  Hughes,  to  whom  the  school  bill  of  1780  came 
for  endorsement,  observed  the  precedent  established  by  his 
predecessor  and  forwarded  it  to  the  Lords  of  Trade.  Their 
representations  secured  for  it  the  royal  signature.  A  com- 
mittee to  manage  the  lottery  was  therefore  appointed  by  Gov- 
ernor Hammond  in  September  of  the  same  year.  Its  per- 
sonnel consisted  of  Henry  Newton,  Jonathan  Binney,  James 
Brenton,  John  Cunningham  and  Charles  Morris,  junior.211 
Acting  on  the  recommendation  of  the  Council  the  board  di- 
vided the  lottery  into  two  classes.  The  first  class  was  of  five 
thousand  tickets  at  twenty  shillings  each  for  which  prizes 
amounting  to  four  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds 
were  assigned.  This  would  leave  a  net  surplus  of  seven  hun- 
dred and  fifty  pounds  to  be  applied  to  the  school.212  The  sec- 
ond part  was  calculated  to  realize  a  like  amount. 

The  lottery  scheme  was  not  a  success.  On  November  10, 
1784,  Mr.  Pyke,  on  the  floor  of  the  House,  charged  the  lottery 
commissioners  with  incompetency  and  neglect  in  the  conduct 
of  its  management.  A  resolution  was  concurred  in  by  the 
popular  body  to  summon  the  members  of  the  commission  be- 
fore its  next  session  "to  account  for  their  conduct."213 

Three  years  later  it  was  revealed  during  the  course  of  an 
investigation  that  only  a  trifle  more  than  five  hundred  and 
fourteen  pounds  had  so  far  been  collected.  In  the  face  of  im- 
pending failure,  it  was  proposed  that,  until  something  more 


20*Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  349,  Dec.  19. 
^Reports  on  the  Canadian  Archives,  1894,  pp.  301,  303. 
211Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  169,  Doc.  3. 
212Murdoch,  Beamish,  op.  cit.,  Vol.  2,  p.  619. 

^Journals  of  the  Proceedings  of  the  Nova  Scotia  House  of  Assem,\ 
1784;  Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  223,  Doc.  17. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  83 

satisfactory  could  be  arranged,  a  section  of  the  Orphan  School 
should  be  acquired  as  a  classroom.  This  idea  had  to  be  aban- 
doned for  reasons  stated  in  a  letter  addressed  to  the  magis- 
trates of  the  town  in  April,  1785,  by  the  trustees  of  the  insti- 
tution. On  inspection  of  the  deed  by  which  the  property  was 
made  over  to  them  they  found  its  use  was  "strictly  confined 
to  the  residence  and  habitation  of  orphan  children,  whereby 
they  were  wholly  debarred  from  suffering  the  use  of  it  to  any 
other  purpose."214 

Four  years  afterwards,  however,  the  school  was  established. 
The  opening  session  was  held  in  the  meeting  room  of  the  As- 
sembly. On  the  16th  of  June,  1789,  the  Governor  nominated 
the  Honorable  Henry  Newton,  who  had  played  so  important 
a  part  in  procuring  the  school,  Honorable  Thomas  Cochran, 
James  Brenton,  John  Newton  and  Richard  John  Uniacke, 
trustees.  William  Cochran,  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  late 
Professor  of  Classical  Languages  in  Columbia  University, 
New  York,  was  made  master  and  George  Glennie,  educated 
at  the  University  of  Aberdeen,  and  Thomas  Brown  were  ap- 
pointed assistants.  When,  in  1790,  Mr.  Cochran  accepted 
the  position  of  headmaster  of  the  Academy  at  Windsor,  the 
vacancy  in  the  Halifax  school  was  filled  by  the  appointment 
of  Reverend  George  Wright.  His  salary  was  one  hundred  and 
fifty  pounds  per  year  in  addition  to  receipts  from  pupils'  fees. 
Mr.  Wright  had  prior  to  this  time  taught  school  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  New  York,  coming  to  Halifax,  on  invitation,  to  take 
charge  of  the  grammar  school  in  May,  1790.  He  had  never 
less  than  forty-two  pupils  in  attendance  during  the  first  year 
of  office,  and,  in  1793,  he  reported  the  average  attendance  to 
be  considerably  in  excess  of  sixty-eight.215 

In  1794,  when  it  was  found  necessary  to  enact  new  legisla- 
tion to  provide  for  the  salaries  of  the  master  and  assistant, 
an  additional  impost  duty  of  three  pence  per  gallon  on  all 
light  wines  imported  into  Halifax  was  levied.  The  money 
arising  from  this  source  was  to  be  paid  into  the  Provincial 
Treasury  for  the  use  of  the  school.216     While  this  part  of  the 


-"Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  137,  Doc.  9. 

215  ibid.,  Vol.  411,  Doc.  29. 

216  Laws  and  Statutes  of  Nova  Scotia,  1794. 


84  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

act  rendered  it  merely  of  local  significance,  a  wider  applica- 
tion was  given  it  by  a  subsequent  clause  decreeing  that  a  sim- 
ilar tax  be  laid  on  all  spirituous  liquors  entering  any  port  of 
the  province,  the  proceeds  to  go  into  the  country  treasury  to 
constitute  a  fund  to  help  along  schools.  In  the  case  of  the 
Grammar  School,  if  the  amount  collected  in  the  port  of  Hali- 
fax was  in  excess  of  the  school  allotment  the  surplus  was  to 
be  devoted  to  the  support  of  the  poor  of  the  town;  whereas 
if  it  fell  short  of  meeting  the  grant,  the  deficiency  was  to  be 
supplied  from  the  revenue  arising  from  permits  issued  to 
license  houses. 

Under  the  direction  of  capable  trustees,  the  Grammar 
School  became  a  wholesome  factor  for  educational  improve- 
ment in  the  Capital.  Its  establishment  had  a  subordinate 
effect  on  primary  education  generally  throughout  the  province, 
for  the  legislation  that  brought  it  into  existence  conceived  the 
idea  of  a  public  school  system  conducted  under  state  super- 
vision. Along  with  King's  College,  the  Grammar  School  was, 
for  many  years,  the  only  effective  school  in  Nova  Scotia. 

The  Founding  of  King's  College. — The  year  prior  to  the 
opening  of  the  Halifax  Grammar  School,  an  institution  of 
similar  educational  standard  was  founded  in  King's  County. 
This  was  Horton  Academy,  the  original  of  the  present  Uni- 
versity of  King's  College. 

An  agitation  to  establish  a  seminary  for  higher  learning  in 
connection  with  the  Church  of  England  in  Nova  Scotia  was 
begun  by  the  congregation  of  St.  Paul's  Church,  Halifax,  as 
early  as  1764.  The  movement  was  intensified  by  the  immi- 
grations from  New  England.  The  matter  was  eventually 
taken  up  by  the  local  Government  which,  in  1768,  submitted 
a  plan  to  the  Lords  of  Trade  to  establish  a  collegiate  school 
at  some  convenient  point  in  the  province  for  the  purpose  of 
educating  a  native  clergy.217  The  project  met  with  the  ap- 
proval of  the  Board  which  in  turn  transmitted  it  to  the  S.  P. 
G.  for  its  consideration.  At  the  request  of  the  latter  a  com- 
mittee of  correspondence  on  the  subject  was  appointed  in 
Halifax.     In  1769,  the  committee  advised  the  Society  that  it 


217  Collections  o/  the  Nova  Scotia  Historical  Society,  Vol.   12,   pp. 
72-73. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  85 

had  selected  Windsor  as  the  most  promising  location  for  the 
institution  seeing  that  it  afforded  the  necessary  quiet  and  se- 
clusion for  study.  It  also  suggested  that  the  allowance  for 
S.  P.  G.  schoolmasters  in  the  province  be  withdrawn  and  the 
money  devoted  to  the  support  of  the  proposed  seminary.218 

Active  though  the  interest  seems  to  have  been  in  the  pro- 
ject, it  failed  for  well  nigh  a  score  of  years  to  advance  beyond 
the  discussion  stage.  Official  opinion  meanwhile  seems  to 
have  unanimously  favored  the  proposal.  Had  the  necessary 
funds  been  available,  it  is  probable  the  foundation  of  the  in- 
stitution would  have  been  laid  forthwith.  As  it  was,  however, 
no  progress  was  effected  until  1787,  when  urgent  educational 
needs  revived  the  issue.  Nova  Scotia  being  in  that  year 
erected  into  a  bishopric  of  the  Anglican  Church,  the  corre- 
spondence committee  at  Halifax  embraced  the  opportunity  to 
address  an  appeal  to  the  local  Government  in  behalf  of  the 
institution.  This  document,  a  part  of  which  follows,  is  of 
interest  to  us  as  epitomizing  the  state  of  education  in  Nova 
Scotia  at  this  time: 

The  Committee  in  Deliberating  upon  this  subject  having 
duly  considered  and  lamented  the  wretched  State  of  Litera- 
ture in  this  Province,  and  having  been  unavoidably  led  to 
contrast  it  with  the  State  of  Literature  in  the  Neighboring 
Republics,  beg  leave  earnestly  to  recommend  to  the  consid- 
eration of  this  House,  whether  it  would  not  be  proper,  as  soon 
as  it  can  be  found  practicable,  to  erect  a  College  or  Univer- 
sity in  this  Province,  to  prevent  as  early  as  may  be,  the  Youth 
of  this  Country  (now  panting  after  Knowledge)  from  rush- 
ing into  the  various  Seminaries,  already  established  in  the 
United  States  of  America,  by  which  means  their  attachment 
to  their  native  Country  may  be  in  Danger  of  being  weakened, 
and  principles  imbued  unfriendly  to  the  British  Constitu- 
tion.219 

This  forceful  presentation  of  the  situation  awakened  the 
interest  of  Governor  Parr  who  recommended  to  the  Assembly 
the  advisability  of  establishing  a  public  fund  to  provide  for 
the  erection  and  maintenance  of  the  school.220    As  a  result, 

218  Akins,  Thomas,  A  Sketch  of  the  Rise  and  Progress,  etc.,  p.  42. 

219  Journals  of  the  Nova  Scotia  House  of  Assembly,  1787. 

220  Haliburton,  Thomas  C,  An  Historical  and  Statistical  Account  of 
Nova  Scotia,  Halifax,  1829,  Vol.  1,  p.  268. 


86  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

before  the  session  closed  a  resolution  had  been  adopted  to  es- 
tablish the  academy.  At  the  sitting  of  the  next  parliament 
in  1788  the  sum  of  four  hundred  pounds  was  voted  to  hire  a 
house  for  holding  classes  and  to  pay  the  salary  of  a  teacher 
for  one  year. 

On  the  first  of  November,  1788,  the  school  opened  with  two 
departments.  In  the  upper  department  the  fees  were  four 
pounds  per  year  and  in  the  English  or  lower  department, 
three  pounds.221  The  next  year,  which  was  the  same  year 
that  the  Grammar  School  at  Halifax  began  its  sessions  in  the 
old  Assembly  rooms,  the  act  of  incorporation  for  King's  was 
secured.222  For  its  support,  an  annual  grant  of  four  hun- 
dred pounds  sterling  was  provided,  the  amount  to  be  raised 
by  duties  on  brown  and  loaf  or  refined  sugar.223  In  addition 
to  this  annual  endowment,  a  lump  sum  of  five  hundred  pounds 
was  voted  for  the  purchase  of  a  suitable  building  and  grounds 
for  the  institution.  Supplemental  amounts  were  voted  from 
year  to  year.  By  1795,  three  thousand  pounds  had  been  ex- 
pended on  the  buildings  but  fifteen  hundred  pounds  more 
were  required.224  The  student  enrollment  was  then  about 
thirty. 

The  College,  according  to  intention,  was  established  as  a 
purely  Church  of  England  institution.  Under  the  terms  of 
incorporation  the  governors  were  to  be  members  of  the  Es- 
tablished Church  with  the  privilege  of  exercising  wide  dis- 
cretionary powers  in  the  framing  of  ordinances  and  regula- 
tions for  its  management. 

In  1802,  a  royal  charter  of  establishment  was  procured  for 
the  institution  and  its  funds  increased  by  an  Imperial  grant 
of  one  thousand  pounds  a  year.  A  special  committee  drew 
up  a  new  set  of  rules  for  the  government  of  the  college. 
Among  them  was  the  stern  requirement  that  all  prospective 
pupils  subscribe  to  the  thirty-nine  articles  of  faith  of  the 
Church  of  England  before  being  admitted  to  the  university 
classes^225    As  the  communicants  of  the  Anglican  Church  in 


221  Reports  on  the  Canadian  Archives,  1894,  p.  457. 

222  Laws  and  Statutes  of  Nova  Scotia,  1789. 
228  ibid. 

224  Reports  on  the  Canadian  Archives,  1894,  p.  511. 

225  Allison,  David,  History  of  Nova  Scotia,  Halifax,  A.  W.   Bowen 
Company,  1916,  Vol.  2,  p.  812. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  87 

Nova  Scotia  at  that  time  did  not  comprise  more  than  one 
third  of  the  whole  population  of  the  province,  this  imposition 
had  the  effect  of  limiting  the  field  of  activity  of  the  institu- 
tion and  confining  its  usefulness  to  a  minor  though  influen- 
tial section  of  the  inhabitants. 

Lord  Dalhousie,  during  his  administration  of  the  province, 
endeavored  to  break  down  the  restrictive  attitude  of  King's. 
He  proposed  that  the  religious  test  as  a  requirement  for 
matriculation  into  the  university  be  abolished  or,  as  an  al- 
ternative, that  an  amalgamation  of  educational  interests  be 
effected  free  from  sectarian  influences.  His  efforts  were  un- 
successful. The  only  alternative  remaining  to  Dalhousie 
then  was  to  erect  an  institution  that  would  afford  facilities 
for  higher  studies  to  all  the  people  of  the  province  irrespective 
of  religious  creed. 

On  the  22d  of  May,  1820,  he  laid  the  foundation  stone  of 
that  well  known  educational  institution  at  Halifax  that  now 
bears  his  name.  On  that  occasion,  in  his  dedicatory  speech, 
the  Governor  proclaimed  it  his  purpose  to  provide  for  "the 
education  of  youth  in  the  higher  classics  and  in  all  philoso- 
phical studies.  Its  doors,"  he  declared,  "will  be  open  to  all 
who  profess  the  Christian  religion.  It  is  particularly  in- 
tended for  those  who  are  excluded  from  Windsor."226 

The  Loyalists. — By  the  time  that  those  institutions  for  more 
advanced  studies  had  been  established  at  Halifax  and  Wind- 
sor, the  whole  educational  aspect  of  the  province  had  under- 
gone a  marked  change  from  what  it  had  been  a  score  of  years 
before.  The  increase  in  the  number  of  schools  in  operation 
was  perhaps  not  large,  but  there  was  rife  throughout  the 
province  a  new  taste  for  learning,  especially  in  those  localities 
recently  settled  by  Loyalists  from  the  Old  Colonies.  In  an 
immediate  and  particular  way  the  immigration  of  those  peo- 
ple into  Nova  Scotia  affected  its  social,  political,  and  educa- 
tional life. 

The  Loyalists  were  a  race  of  ready-made  scholars.  In  the 
Old  Colonies  they  had  enjoyed  educational  facilities  far  in  ad- 
vance of  those  obtaining  in  Nova  Scotia.  Among  those  who 
came  were  lawyers,  judges,  clergymen,  soldiers  and  men  who 

226  Murdoch,  Beamish,  op.  cit.,  Vol.  3,  p.  455. 


88  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

had  in  one  way  or  another  attained  to  honors  in  their  old 
homes.  They  came  in  such  numbers — perhaps  30,000  in  all, 
doubling  the  population  of  the  province  in  a  year  or  two — 
that,  instead  of  modifying  their  tastes  before  the  demands  of 
their  new  surroundings,  they  were  able  to  use  whatever  cir- 
cumstances they  found  themselves  in  and  transform  into  their 
liking  the  social  and  civil  life  they  found  around  them.227 

Their  condition  on  arrival  was  wretched.  Governor  Parr 
said  of  a  band  of  Loyalists  who  arrived  from  St.  Augustine 
in  the  fall  of  1784,  "the  poorest  and  most  distressed  of  all 
beings,  without  a  shilling,  almost  naked,  and  destitute  of 
every  necessary  of  life.228  But  from  motives  of  necessity  and 
policy  the  Imperial  Government  dealt  generously  with  them 
providing  them  with  all  necessaries  for  the  first  year  or  so  of 
settlement.  To  promote  their  educational  interests  Governor 
Parr  was  instructed  to  reserve,  in  every  township  occupied 
by  the  Loyalists,  one  thousand  acres  of  land  inalienable  for- 
ever for  the  maintenance  of  a  school:229  The  Loyalists  ap- 
parently did  not  avail  themselves  to  any  considerable  extent 
of  those  lands  which  in  keeping  with  the  prevailing  educa- 
tional policy  of  the  province  were  designed  especially  for  the 
use  of  S.  P.  G.  teachers.  In  most  cases  the  Loyalists  engaged 
teachers  of  their  own  choice  supporting  them  as  best  they 
could.  No  doubt  their  attitude  on  the  school  question  had 
considerable  influence  in  hastening  the  institution  of  free- 
dom in  school  establishment  in  the  province. 

The  Loyalists  eventually  made  their  way  to  almost  every 
part  of  Nova  Scotia.  Many  of  them  settled  in  Cumberland 
County,  in  the  vicinity  of  Annapolis  Koyal  and  in  Digby. 
At  the  beginning  of  1784,  11,000  of  them  founded  the  town  of 
Shelburne.230  Here  in  the  two  parishes  that  made  up  the 
settlement  the  Keverend  Mr.  Walter  and  Reverend  Mr.  Row- 
land were  elected  rectors  and  application  made  the  Governor 
to  have  them  inducted  in  the  school  service  and  put  in  pos- 
session of  the  lands  reserved  for  schoolmasters.231     In  reply 


22T  Reports   on  the   Canadian  Archives,   1894,   pp.   409,   412;    Public 
Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  47. 

228  Reports  on  the  Canadian  Archives,  1894,  p.  409. 

229  ibid.,  p.  412. 

230  ibid.,  p.  412. 

23i  Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  396;  Vol.  136,  pp.  327-328. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  89 

the  Governor  stated  that  such  appointments  were  reserved 
for  Government  but  expressed  his  willingness  to  confer  five 
hundred  acres  on  these  gentlemen  provided  they  made  choice 
of  lands  other  than  those  already  reserved  for  school  pur- 
poses. Some  time  after  this  Mr.  Walter  was  tendered  part 
of  a  missionary's  allowance  for  the  district. 

It  is  probable  that  numerous  private  schools  flourished  in 
Shelburne  in  the  days  of  its  greatest  prosperity.  When 
Bishop  Inglis  visited  the  town  in  1790  he  found  twelve  schools 
there  in  active  operation  and  257  scholars  in  attendance.  He 
computed  the  number  of  children  in  the  town  to  be  770.232 
Since  these  schools  were  private  enterprises  supported  by 
pupils'  fees  we  find  no  mention  of  their  teachers  in  the  official 
records  of  the  province.  In  a  copy  of  the  Nova  Scotia  Packet 
and  General  Advertiser,  printed  at  Shelburne  in  1786,  we  find, 
however,  the  following  advertisement: 

A  Schoolmaster  wanted  in  a  family,  to  instruct  four  or  five 
children.  An  elderly  man,  with  a  good  character,  properly 
recommended,  will  meet  with  very  good  encouragement.233 

For  general  educational  activity  Shelburne  soon  acquired 
a  reputation  surpassing  that  of  the  Capital.  When,  for  in- 
stance, in  1785,  Major  Courtland,  late  of  the  Third  Battalion 
of  New  Jersey  Volunteers,  wished,  for  the  sake  of  his  chil- 
dren, to  obtain  a  land  grant  in  the  province  in  close  proxim- 
ity to  a  school,  he  selected  a  site  on  the  main  highway  in  the 
vicinity  of  Shelburne.234 

In  the  Annapolis  region  a  Loyalist  of  the  name  of  Benjamin 
Snow  opened  a  very  efficient  school  in  1781;  and  in  Digby, 
the  Loyalists,  in  1784,  engaged  a  scholar  named  Foreman  to 
teach  their  children. 

The  Loyalists,  because  of  their  experience  in  colonial  life, 
were  well  suited  for  pioneer  settlement  in  Nova  Scotia.  With 
their  steady  application,  progressiveness  and  intellectuality 
they  were  well  equipped  to  play  an  important  part  in  the 
public  life  of  their  new  home.     Their  sons,  especially  in  the 


232  Reports  on  the  Canadian  Archives,  1912,  pp.  239-240;  1894,  p.  457. 

233  Nova  Scotia  Packet  and  General  Advertiser,  Shelburne,  September 
7,  1786. 

234  Reports  on  the  Canadian  Archives,  1894,  p.  430. 


90  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

next  generation,  became,  in  many  instances,  eminent  public 
men  and  have  ranged  themselves  among  the  real  founders  of 
the  province.  The  elevated  character  of  the  educational  spirit 
of  the  province  during  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century 
was,  in  no  small  measure,  due  to  Loyalist  influence. 

Early  Education  in  Pictou  County. — While  the  Loyalists 
were  settling  the  western  part  of  Nova  Scotia  the  undeveloped 
sections  of  the  east  bordering  on  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence 
were  being  peopled  by  a  steady  influx  of  immigrants  from 
Scotland.  The  first  arrivals  were,  denominationally,  Presby- 
terians of  the  Established  Church  of  Scotland.  Later  a  con- 
siderable number  of  Scotch  Catholics  took  up  lands  in  the 
same  district  and  vicinity. 

Educationally,  these  people  were  inferior  to  the  New  Eng- 
land Loyalists.  Of  the  scholastic  abilities  of  the  early  Scotch 
settlers  of  Pictou,  Dr.  Patterson  writes  thus: 

The  most  of  the  Highlanders  were  very  ignorant.  Very 
few  of  them  could  read,  and  books  were  unknown  among  them. 
The  Dumfries  settlers  were  much  more  intelligent  in  religion 
and  everything  else.  They  had  brought  with  them  a  few  relig- 
ious books  from  Scotland,  some  of  which  were  lost  in  Prince 
Edward  Island,  but  the  rest  were  carefully  read.  In  the  year 
1779,  John  Patterson  brought  out  a  supply  of  books  from 
Scotland  .  .  .  among  which  was  a  plentiful  supply  of  the  New 
England  Primer,  which  was  distributed  among  the  young,  and 
the  contents  of  which  was  soon  learned.  Of  teachers,  I  have 
not  found  the  names  of  any  after  James  Davidson  left,  about 
the  year  1776.236 

Of  the  later  Scotch  immigrants,  Dr.  McGregor  writes: 

It  was  with  no  little  discouragement  to  me  that  I  saw 
scarcely  any  books  among  the  people.  Those  who  spoke  Eng- 
lish had  indeed  a  few,  which  they  had  brought  with  them 
from  their  former  abodes;  but  scarcely  one  of  them  had  got 
any  addition  to  his  stock  since.  Almost  all  of  them  had  a 
Bible,  and  it  was  to  be  seen  with  some  of  the  Highlanders 
who  could  not  read.  Few  of  them  indeed  could  read  a  word. 
There  was  no  school  in  the  place.  Squire  Patterson  had  built 
a  small  house  and  hired  a  teacher  for  a  few  months  now  and 
then  for  his  own  children.  In  three,  or  perhaps  four,  other 
places  three  or  four  of  the  nearest  neighbors  had  united  and 
hired  a  teacher  for  a  few  months  at  different  times,  and  this 


236  Patterson,  Reverend  George,  op.  cit.,  pp.  111-112. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  91 

was  a  great  exertion.  What  was  more  discouraging,  I  could 
not  see  a  situation  in  Pictou  where  a  school  could  be  main- 
tained for  a  year,  so  thin  and  scattered  was  the  population. 
Besides  many  of  the  Highlanders  were  perfectly  indifferent 
about  education.236 

Dr.  McGregor  arrived  in  Pictou  in  1786,  the  same  year  that 
this  section  of  the  province  was  separated  from  Halifax 
County  and  erected  into  an  independent  district.237  He  was 
a  man  of  great  intellectual  power  and  a  writer  of  some  dis- 
tinction. It  is  said  of  him  that  he  was  so  concerned  about  the 
education  of  his  fellow  countrymen  that  when  parents  pre- 
sented their  children  for  baptism  he  was  accustomed  to  draw 
from  them  a  solemn  declaration  that  they  would  make  a  faith- 
ful effort  to  see  that  their  offspring  secured  an  education. 
The  earnest  desire  of  the  Highlanders  for  religious  instruction 
he  found  to  be  of  invaluable  assistance  in  cultivating  their 
interest  in  the  education  of  their  children;  and  he  subse- 
quently stated  that  he  found  them  to  be  more  easily  impressed 
with  this  need  than  he  had  at  first  anticipated.  Their  chil- 
dren in  their  rude  schools  showed  great  aptitude  for  learning. 

Before  the  Scotch  arrived  in  force,  a  school,  as  Patterson 
observes,  was  established  at  Lyons  Brook,  in  the  Pictou  dis- 
trict, by  James  Davidson,  a  refugee  from  New  England,  in 
1776.  It  is  noteworthy  as  being  perhaps  the  first  Sunday 
school  to  be  opened  in  Nova  Scotia.  Another  was  begun  by 
the  Reverend  Mr.  Breynton  at  Halifax  in  1783  in  which  needy 
children  were  clothed  and  otherwise  provided  for  by  sub- 
scriptions raised  by  the  congregation  of  St.  PauPs  Parish.238 

In  1785,  when  it  was  proposed  to  settle  a  number  of  ex-sol- 
diers in  the  neighborhood  of  Pictou,  a  town  site  was  laid  out 
and  a  plot  reserved  for  a  school.  But  as  the  project  failed 
to  mature  no  school  appeared.  In  1793,  Peter  Grant,  who 
had  been  educated  in  the  Grammar  School  at  Halifax,  was 
licensed  to  keep  a  school  in  Pictou.  The  settlement  had  then 
been  selected  as  the  seat  of  government  for  the  district.  Grant 
was  succeeded,  in  1802,  by  S.  L.  Newcomb  who  after  a  short 
time  was  replaced  by  Glennie  who  had  also  been  licensed  to 
teach  in  the  district. 


236  IMd.,  pp.  140-141. 

237  Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  223,  Doc.  102. 

238  Akins,  Thomas  B.,  History  of  Halifax,  p.  71. 


92  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

A  notable  figure  in  the  later  educational  life  of  Pictou 
County  was  Dr.  McCulloch.  While  Dr.  McGregor  had  di- 
rected his  efforts  mainly  towards  the  improvement  of  educa- 
tion generally  among  the  Scotch  of  Pictou,  Dr.  McCulloch 
was,  in  a  particular  way,  attentive  to  their  needs  for  advanced 
education.  He  came  from  Scotland  in  1803  and  almost  imme- 
diately began  an  agitation  to  secure  the  establishment  of  an 
institution  for  higher  learning  in  Pictou  such  as  would  ex- 
tend to  his  co-religionists  educational  facilities  comparable 
to  that  accessible  to  members  of  the  Established  Church  in 
Nova  Scotia.  His  efforts  did  not  bear  fruit  until  1816  when 
he  succeeded  in  securing  the  privilege  of  establishing  an  acad- 
emy on  condition  that  it  would  be  entirely  self-supporting. 
When  financial  difficulties  threatened  the  continuation  of  the 
institution  after  a  few  years,  legislative  appropriations  were 
made  for  its  assistance  but  these  were  eventually  discontinued. 
For  this  reason  Pictou  Academy  failed  to  rise  above  the  status 
of  a  secondary  educational  institution  and,  contrary  to  Dr. 
McCulloch's  original  intention,  never  attained  the  dignity  of 
a  degree-conferring  institution.  In  the  meantime  the  district 
had  been  enjoying  the  benefits  of  grammar  schools. 

Halifax  Private  Schools. — The  school  legislation  of  1780  and 
the  opening  of  the  Grammar  School  did  not  interfere  directly 
with  the  free  exercise  of  the  private  schools  of  the  Capital. 

In  1805,  Mr.  Mezagneau  gave  notice  through  the  Halifax 
press  that  he  was  about  to  open  a  school  to  teach  French  in 
the  evenings.239  Next  year,  another  school  was  started  in 
Halifax  by  Michael  Green,  late  assistant  in  the  Grammar 
School.240 

The  Germans  of  Halifax  had  Mr.  Honseal  to  teach  the  Ger- 
man congregation  of  St.  George's  in  1785.241  On  February 
28,  1805,  the  following  advertisement  appeared  in  the  Nova 
Scotia  Royal  Gazette: 

Wanted  to  superintend  a  school  in  Dutch  Town,  a  young 
man  capable  of  teaching  reading,  writing,  arithmetic.242 


239  The  Nova  Scotia  Royal  Gazette,  October  10,  1805. 

240  ibid.,  November  18,  1806. 

241  Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  137. 

242  The  Nova  Scotia  Royal  Gazette,  February  28,  1805. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  93 

Music  schools  began  to  appear  in  Halifax  towards  the  be- 
ginning of  the  nineteenth  century.  In  1801,  Mr.  Dorwal, 
from  London,  solicited  classes  in  music,  French  and  dancing; 
and  in  1805,  G.  B.  Fillman  informed  the  Halifax  public  that 
he  was  opening  a  school  uto  teach  music  in  all  its  variety."248 

The  following  notice  of  a  school  for  the  education  of  young 
ladies  was  given  in  the  issue  of  the  Nova  Scotia  Gazette  for 
April  23,  1801 : 

Female  Education 

James  Bowen,  Schoolmaster,  at  the  next  corner  house,  to 
the  westward  of  Mr.  Noonan's  (Sign  of  the  Bunch  of  Grapes) 
respectfully  acquaints  the  public  that  he  has  commenced  the 
Tuition  of  Young  Ladies  in  Reading,  Writing,  Arithmetic  and 
Accompts,  from  the  hours  of  12  'till  2  (the  useful  days  of  at- 
tendance) and  having  engaged  a  Person  every  way  qualified 
to  assist  him  in  the  duties  of  the  School,  flatters  himself  by 
their  united  exertions  and  assiduity  of  giving  satisfaction  to 
the  Parents  who  are  pleased  to  intrust  him  with  the  Education 
of  their  Children. 

In  this  same  year,  Daniel  Hammil  was  licensed  to  keep 
school  in  Halifax ;  and,  in  1803,  Joseph  Hawkins  was  appointed 
S.  P.  G.  teacher  for  the  city.  The  name  of  Michael  Forrestal 
also  appears  on  the  list  of  teachers  in  Halifax  in  1805. 244  His 
school  was  called  an  English  Academy.  We  reproduce  his 
notice  of  its  opening,  printed  in  the  Nova  Scotia  Gazette  on 
June  6,  1805 : 

English  Academy 

By  permission  of  his  Excellency,  Sir  John  Wentworth, 
Baronet,  &  the  subscriber  respectfully  informs  the  pub- 
lic, he  will  open  an  English  Academy,  in  Halifax,  on  Monday 
the  23rd,  June  next,  for  the  instruction  of  youth  in  the  fol- 
lowing branches  of  Education  viz ; 

Reading,  Writing,  English,  Grammar,  Arithmetic,  Book- 
keeping, Geography,  with  the  use  of  the  Globes;  Geometry, 
Trigonometry,  Surveying  on  a  modern  and  highly  improved 
plan;  Navigation,  Gnomonics,  Natural  Philosophy,  Astron- 
omy, Elocution,  Composition,  & 

Public  Examinations  will  be  held  half-yearly. 


243  ibid.,  May  2,  1805;  1801. 

2*4  Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  172. 


94  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

Mr.  Bowen,  in  1806,  moved  his  school  to  a  new  situation  on 
Hollis  Street.     Giving  notice  of  his  new  location  he  says: 

Conscious  that  no  exertions  of  his  has  been  wanting*  to 
facilitate  the  improvement  of  pupils  committed  to  his  care 
these  Fourteen  years  he  has  followed  that  vocation,  and  re- 
flects with  pleasure,  on  the  great  number  of  young  Gentlemen, 
he  has  qualified  for  the  Compting  House,  and  other  respectable 
Situations,  now  in  Halifax,  and  elsewhere,  Likewise  the  many 
adult  Persons,  he  has  also  qualified  to  be,  and  are  Masters, 
and  Mates  of  Vessels,  &.  His  faculties  from  much  practice 
and  study,  are  rather  improved,  (but  by  no  means  impaired) 
and  therefore  begs  leave,  with  the  most  profound  respect  to 
solicit  a  continuance  of  the  Patronage  he  has  so  liberally  ex- 
perienced from  a  very  respectable  number  of  the  inhabitants 
of  Halifax.245 

There  were  in  later  years  several  schools  for  young  women 
in  the  town.  Miss  Wenman  kept  a  school  for  small  children 
in  Granville  Street  which  was  burned  out  by  the  fire  of  1817. 
Mrs.  Henry  and  Mrs.  McCage  were  teaching  young  ladies  in 
Barrington  Street  about  the  same  time.246 

General  Educational  Situation  Throughout  Nova  Scotia. — 
As  indicated  by  the  report  of  the  correspondence  committee 
on  King's  College  in  1787,  the  sparsely  settled  districts  of  the 
province  were  enjoying  meager  educational  facilities  at  that 
time.  A  contributor  to  the  Nova  Scotia  Magazine,  in  1789, 
asserted  that  education  in  the  province  had  just  begun,247  and 
Bishop  Inglis  affirms  that  when  he  came  to  Nova  Scotia,  in 
1787,  there  was  not  a  good  grammar  school  in  the  whole  coun- 
try and  only  one  finished  church — St.  Paul's  in  Halifax.248  In 
those  districts,  however,  where  an  active  interest  was  shown 
in  schools,  teachers  were  located  by  government  license  from 
time  to  time. 

At  Cornwallis,  in  King's  County,  Cornelius  Fox  became 
schoolmaster  in  1782.249    As  S.  P.  G.  representative  he  was 


245  The  Nova  Scotia  Royal  Gazette,  October  7,  1806. 

246  Akins,  Thomas  B.,  History  of  Halifax,  pp.  183-184. 

247  The  Nova  Scotia  Magazine,  Vol.  1,  1789,  p.  86. 

248  Reports  on  the  Canadian  Archives,  1912,  p.  249. 

249  Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  136,  p.  296. 

Eaton's  statement,  that  Fox  was  teaching  at  Cornwallis  in  1772-1773, 
la  evidently  erroneous.  See  Eaton,  Arthur,  W.  H.,  The  History  of  Kings 
County,  Nova  Scotia,  Salem,  Mass.,  1910,  p.  335. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  95 

entitled  to  the  use  of  the  school  lands  but  due  to  disagree- 
ment among  the  proprietors  he  was  restrained  from  occupy- 
ing them  until  1789.250  Settlement  was  finally  effected  by  Mr. 
Fox  assuming  to  teach  twelve  children  gratis  and  reducing 
the  fees  of  others  from  fifty-two  to  forty  shillings  per  year. 
Mr.  Fox  was  the  first  teacher  in  the  township  and  the  first 
also  in  the  present  county  of  Kings.251  He  taught  at  Corn- 
wallis  until  1798,  when  he  retired  to  Cape  Breton  to  become 
teacher  at  Sydney.  His  school  at  Cornwallis  was  renewed 
the  next  year  by  Matthew  McLaughlin  and  Matthew  Fisher, 
who  were  joined  soon  afterwards  by  Patrick  Inery.252  They 
came  probably  in  response  to  the  following  advertisement  ap- 
pearing in  the  Halifax  Weekly  Chronicle  on  several  occasions 
from  April  to  June,  1799 : 

Any  person  capable  of  teaching  reading,  writing  and  arith- 
metic, with  propriety,  who  can  produce  a  good  recommenda- 
tion for  sobriety  and  steadiness  of  conduct  and  to  whom  a 
residence  in  the  country  would  be  agreeable,  will  be  informed 
of  an  eligible  situation  by  applying  to  Messrs.  Charles  and 
Samuel  Prescott  in  Halifax  or  to  Joseph  Prescott,  Esq.,  or 
Timothy  Eaton,  Merchant  Cornwallis.253 

Application  for  a  teacher  was  made  by  forty-four  Loyalists 
of  Clements  township  in  1788.  A  certain  Mr.  Casey,  who 
conducted  a  private  school  in  the  settlement,  seems  to  have 
been  inducted  into  the  service  soon  afterwards,  for  we  find 
him  established  as  teacher  there  in  1791.254 

In  1790,  following  a  visit  to  the  western  districts  of  the 
province,  Bishop  Inglis  recommended  the  appointment  of  a 
teacher  for  the  settlers  at  Aylesford.  Early  in  the  next  year 
the  proprietors  secured  the  services  of  a  Mr.  Reynolds  as 
clerk  and  schoolmaster.255  Another  schoolmaster  who  taught 
in  the  Aylesford  district  before  the  end  of  the  century  was 
Mr.  Tupper.     He  resigned  his  charge  in  1797.256 

The  first  missionary  to  Rawden-Douglas  was  Benjamin 
Gray.     He  was  appointed  in  1796  with  an  assigned  salary  of 


250  Reports  on  the  Canadian  Archives,  1912,  p.  233. 

251  Eaton,  Arthur  W.  H.,  op.  cit.,  p.  335. 

252  Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  172. 

253  Eaton,  Arthur,  W.  H.,  op.  cit.,  pp.  335-336. 

254  Reports  on  the  Canadian  Archives,  1912,  p.  224;  1913,  p.  252. 

255  ibid.,  1912,  p.  240;   1913,  p.  252. 
256  ibid.,  1912,  p.  240. 


96  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

seventy-five  pounds  a  year,  the  money  to  be  paid  "out  of  the 
provision  made  by  Government  for  the  support  of  missions  in 
the  province."267 

At  Onslow,  Patrick  Kyan,  by  license  of  the  Governor  and 
approval  of  the  Bishop,  was  allowed  to  occupy  the  school 
lands  in  1802.  His  seems  to  have  been  the  first  appointment 
to  the  township.  In  this  year,  too,  George  Dill  was  sent  to 
teach  the  children  of  Truro  township  in  the  present  county 
of  Colchester.  He  was  accorded  the  privilege  of  cultivating 
for  his  own  use  the  five  hundred  acres  reserved  there  for  a 
schoolmaster. 

As  regards  the  earliest  schools  in  the  Loyalist  colony  of 
Yarmouth,  Lawson,  in  Yarmouth  Past  and  Present,  writes: 
"The  first  school  house  of  which  any  trace  can  be  found  was 
situated  in  the  northeast  corner  of  the  old  Episcopal  church- 
yard on  Butler's  Hill,  which  was  also  used  as  a  court  house 
from  1790  till  the  year  1805  .  .  ."258 

We  find  in  the  Governor's  Commission  Book  record  of  six 
persons  licensed  to  teach  in  Yarmouth  in  1785.  They  were 
Samuel  S.  Poole,  Miner  Huntington,  Andrew  Butler,  John 
Prout,  Robert  Black  and  Reverend  Harris  Harding.  A  con- 
siderable colony  of  Loyalists  was  at  this  time  settled  in  the 
township.289 

Mention  has  already  been  made  of  Benjamin  Snow's  school 
at  Annapolis  in  1781.  Snow  was  a  graduate  of  Dartmouth 
College,  New  Hampshire.  He  conducted  his  school  for  two 
years,  being  succeeded  in  1783  by  John  McNamara,  also  a 
Loyalist.  McNamara  had  charge  of  the  school  until  his  death 
in  1798,  being  in  receipt  of  the  usual  subsidy  from  the 
S.  P.  G.2fl0 

James  Foreman  (or  Forman),  who  came  to  Annapolis  with 
the  refugees  of  1781,  soon  moved  to  Digby  where  he  opened 
the  school  already  noticed.  According  to  Wilson,  he  was 
preceded  by  a  teacher  named  William  Barbanks,  who  taught 


267  Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  172. 

258  Lawson,  J.  Murray,  Yarmouth  Past  and  Present,  Yarmouth, 
1902,  p.  545. 

"•Brown,  George  S.,  op.  cit.,  p.  351. 

zoo  Calnek,  W.  A.,  History  of  the  County  of  Annapolis,  Toronto,  1897, 
p.  178. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  97 

in  several  hamlets  in  the  county  before  the  close  of  the  cen- 
tury.261 Foreman  began  his  school  at  Digby  in  1784  with  an 
enrollment  of  seventy-five  pupils.  It  lasted  but  eight  months, 
the  teacher  turning  his  attention  to  the  institution  of  a  Sun- 
day school  of  the  Church  of  England.  This  venture  has  won 
for  Foreman  more  celebrity  than  did  his  secular  school.  It 
is  regarded  by  some  writers  as  the  first  Sunday  school  on  the 
continent  of  America,  though  others  give  precedence  to  the 
institution  started  by  Davidson  at  Lyons  Brook,  in  Pictou 
County,  in  1776.262  Foreman's  school  gave  impetus  to  the 
establishment  of  such  institutions  in  the  province,  two  being 
started  in  Halifax  by  Bishop  Inglis  in  1788.  One  of  these, 
for  boys,  was  directed  by  a  Mr.  Tidmarsh ;  the  other,  for  girls, 
by  Mrs.  Clarke.263 

With  the  promise  of  assistance  from  the  S.  P.  G.,  Mr.  Fore- 
man renewed  his  secular  school  in  a  new  location  in  Digby 
town  in  1789.264  Bishop  Inglis  paid  him  a  visit  in  1791  and 
found  forty  scholars  attending  the  school.  Foreman,  even- 
tually returned  to  England. 

In  addition  to  Foreman's  school  at  Digby,  others  are  re- 
puted to  have  existed  in  the  township  before  1800.  One  was 
erected  at  Westport  in  1789,  and  another  was  located  at 
Sandy  Cove.  A  new  school  was  started  at  Little  Kiver,  in 
1805,  by  William  Gay,  an  Englishman.265 

Cumberland  County,  settled  by  New  Englanders,  was  for  a 
long  time  without  either  minister  or  schoolmaster.  The  first 
permanent  clergyman  in  this  district  was  a  Mr.  Eagleson ;  the 
first  schoolmaster,  John  Dunn,  who  was  engaged  by  the  in- 
habitants of  Amherst  in  1788.266  Through  the  recommenda- 
tion of  Bishop  Inglis,  an  official  license  was  secured  for  him 
next  year.  Similar  appointments  were  made  about  the  same 
time  for  Hopewell  and  Parrsborough. 

The  Loyalists  settled  at  Campbellton,  near  Sheet  Harbor, 
asked  for  a  teacher  in  1788.     The  petition,  signed  by  fifty- 

26i  Wilson,  Isaiah  W.,  A  Geography  and  History  of  the  County  o/ 
Digby,  Nova  Scotia,  Halifax,  N.  S.,  1900,  p.  92. 
262Calnek,  W.  A.,  op.  cit.,  pp.  297-298. 
263  Reports  on  the  Canadian  Archives,  1913,  p.  233. 
™*Ibid.,  1912,  p.  233;  1913,  p.  252. 
96BWilson,  Isaiah  W.,  op.  cit.,  pp.  92-94. 
™Reports  on  the  Canadian  Archives,  1912,  p.  243. 


98  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

three  persons,  stated  that  there  were  fifty-one  children  in  the 
township.  They  got  their  first  teacher  in  1789,  Mr.  William 
Sutherland,  who  conducted  a  school  of  seventeen  pupils 
throughout  that  year.  He  was  replaced  in  1790  by  Thomas 
Cook. 

In  1792,  Patrick  Patton  was  appointed  S.  P.  G.  teacher  for 
Guysborough,  and,  in  the  Ship  Harbor  district,  Charles  Tay- 
lor and  Michael  Russell  were  given  certificates  to  teach  in 
1804.  G.  F.  Belvidere  procured  a  license  to  teach  writing  and 
arithmetic  in  Lunenburg  in  1796,  and  in  the  vicinity  of  Ches- 
ter a  man  by  the  name  of  Hawbolt  taught  school  about 
1810.267 

Internal  Administration  and  Management  of  Schools. — In 
illustration  of  the  internal  management  of  our  early  schools, 
the  character  of  the  schoolmaster,  and  the  matter  he  taught, 
we  insert  a  few  items  taken  from  the  records  as  being  rather 
typical.  The  first  is  a  letter  written  by  Mr.  Fullerton,  teacher 
at  Horton  in  1790,  to  the  trustees  of  the  school.  It  shows 
how  teachers  collected  their  fees  from  pupils. 

In  order  to  accomplish  in  the  most  liberal  manner  the  pa- 
ternal designs  of  His  Majesty  in  reserving  the  school  lands 
and  to  render  my  settlement  as  acceptable  as  possible  to  the 
inhabitants  of  Horton,  I  am  very  willing  to  educate  five  Chil- 
dren without  charge  as  shall  be  recommended  to  me  for  that 
purpose.  This  proportion  is  considerably  greater  than  that 
fixed  for  the  School-Master  at  Cornwallis.  The  lands  in  that 
town  rent  for  £25  or  30,  while  those  of  Horton  are  leased  £10 
or  12.  Yet  to  extend  the  benefits  of  tuition  as  much  as  possi- 
ble I  will  cheerfully  undertake  the  Superintendence  of  half 
the  number  assigned  to  that  incumbent. 

From  the  same  motive,  I  likewise  resolve  to  reduce  the  fees 
of  tuition  from  £3  per  annum  to  £2  15s  whenever  the  inhabi- 
tants shall  supply  a  school-room  and  supply  it  with  fuel. 

These  conditions  are  the  most  moderate  that  can  be  offered 
in  the  present  circumstance  of  the  country.  I  have  presumed 
to  state  them  on  paper  that  the  people  at  large  may  know  pre- 
cisely the  ground  on  which  I  stand ;  and  that  every  possibility 
of  a  future  misunderstanding  may  be  precluded. 

N.  B.  If  the  number  of  Scholars  that  pay  exceed  twenty 
the  tuition  shall  be  £2  10s.268 


™Ibid.,  pp.  224,  233,  238,  242,  245. 

^Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  224,  Doc.  49. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  99 

The  following  narrative  suggests  the  ordinary  conditions 
under  which  the  pioneer  schoolmaster  in  Nova  Scotia  lived. 

You  are  aware  that  the  teachers  at  the  present  day  are 
more  cared  for  than  teachers  formerly.  I  have  in  some  sec- 
tions had  for  food,  in  poor  families  where  I  boarded,  nothing 
but  Indian  meal,  without  milk  or  sweetening.  In  other 
families,  fish  and  potatoes,  and  mangel  tops  for  my  dinner; 
slept  on  hay  and  straw  beds  on  the  floor,  where  mice,  fleas  and 
bugs  could  be  felt  all  hours  of  the  night.  I  have  frequently 
found  one,  two  and  three  mice  crushed  to  death  lying  under 
me — the  straw  not  even  put  in  a  sack,  and  my  covering  old 
clothing.  I  suffered  all  this,  so  great  was  my  wish  to  give  in- 
struction to  the  poor  and  rising  generation.  Yea,  many  fam- 
ilies of  poor  children  have  I  educated  and  never  received  one 
farthing.269 

An  old  German  resident  of  Lunenburg  tells  us  how  he  was 
taught  about  1800: 

In  those  days  we  had  German  schools.  It  was  my  hurt 
going  to  them ;  I  should  have  had  English.  The  schoolmaster 
was  one  Draver,  from  Germany.  He  spoke  only  German.  He 
kept  school  in  my  grandfather  Conrad's  house,  and  had  about 
forty  scholars.  We  went  early  in  the  morning  and  left  at 
five  o'clock.  The  master  was  very  strict,  and  would  not  allow 
any  noise.  The  Bible  was  read  every  day.  I  can  read  it  in 
English.  I  learned  it  from  my  children.  All  the  preaching 
used  to  be  in  German;  there  is  very  little  of  it  now  (1878). 
The  old  settlers  brought  their  large  family  Bibles  from  Ger- 
many.    My  father  could  read  well  in  German.270 

A  writer  in  the  Acadian  Magazine  for  July,  1826,  describes 
"A  Schoolmaster  of  the  Old  Leaven" — his  character,  appear- 
ance and  pedagogical  equipment  as  follows: 

The  good  old  race  of  flogging  schoolmasters,  who  restrained 
the  passions  by  giving  vent  to  them,  and  took  care  to  maintain 
a  proper  quality  of  fear  and  tyranny  in  the  world,  are  now 
perhaps  extinct. 

I  knew  a  master  of  the  old  school,  who  flourished  (no  man 
a  better  rod)  about  thirty  years  back.  I  used  to  wish  I  was  a 
fairy  that  I  might  have  the  handling  of  his  cheeks  and  wig. 

He  was  a  short,  thick  set  man  about  sixty,  with  an  aquiline 
nose,  a  long  connex  upper  lip,  sharp  mouth,  little  cruel  eyes, 
and  a  pair  of  hands  enough  to  make  your  cheeks  tingle  to  look 

269DesBrisay,  Mather  B.,  op.  tit.,  p.  401. 
™Ibid.,  p.  363. 


100  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

at  them.  I  remember  his  short  coat  sleeves,  and  the  way  in 
which  his  hands  used  to  hang  out  of  his  little  tight  waist- 
bands, ready  for  execution.  Hard  little  fists  they  were,  yet 
no  harder  than  his  great  cheeks.  He  was  a  clergyman,  and 
his  favorite  exclamation  (which  did  not  appear  profane  to  us 
but  only  tremendous)  was  "God's  my  life."  Whenever  he 
said  this,  turning  upon  you  and  opening  his  eyes  like  a  fish, 
you  expected  (and  with  good  reason)  to  find  one  of  his  hands 
taking  you  with  a  pinch  of  the  flesh  under  the  chin,  while  with 
the  other  he  treated  your  cheek  as  if  it  had  been  no  better  than 
a  piece  of  deal. 

I  am  persuaded  there  was  some  affinity  between  him  and 
the  deal.  He  had  a  side  pocket,  in  which  he  carried  a  car- 
penter's rule  (I  don't  know  who  his  father  was),  and  he  was 
fond  of  meddling  with  carpenters'  work.  The  line  and  rule 
prevailed  in  his  mode  of  teaching.  I  think  I  see  him  now 
seated  under  a  deal  board  canopy,  behind  a  lofty  wooden 
desk,  his  wooden  chair  raised  upon  a  dais  of  wooden  steps  and 
two  large  wooden  shutters  or  slides  projecting  from  the  wall 
or  other  side  to  secure  him  from  the  .wind.  He  introduced 
among  us  an  acquaintance  with  manufactures.  Having  a 
tight  little  leg  (for  there  was  a  horrible  succinctness  about 
him,  though  in  the  priestly  part  he  tended  to  be  corpulent), 
he  was  accustomed,  very  artfully,  whenever  he  came  to  a  pass- 
age in  his  lectures  concerning  pigs  of  iron,  to  cross  one  of  his 
calves  over  his  knee,  and  inform  us  that  the  pig  was  about  the 
thickness  of  that  leg.  Upon  which,  like  slaves  as  we  were,  all 
looked  inquisitively  at  his  leg ;  as  if  it  had  not  served  for  the 
illustration  a  hundred  times. 

Though  serious  in  ordinary  and  given  to  wrath,  he  was 
"cruel  fond"  of  a  joke.  I  remember  particularly  his  delight- 
ing to  shew  us  how  funny  Terence  was  (which  is  what  we 
should  never  have  found  out)  ;  and  how  he  used  to  tickle  our 
eyes  with  the  words,  "Chremis'  Daater." 

He  had  no  more  relish  of  the  joke  or  the  poetry  than  we 
had;  but  Terence  was  a  school  book  and  was  ranked  among 
the  comic  writers;  and  it  was  his  business  to  carry  on  estab- 
lished opinions  and  an  authorized  facetiousness. 

When  he  flogged,  he  used  to  pause  and  lecture  between  the 
blows,  that  the  instruction  might  sink  in.  We  became  so 
critical  and  sensitive  about  everything  that  concerned  him? 
watching  his  very  dress  like  the  aspects  of  the  stars,  that  we 
used  to  identify  particular  moods  of  his  mind  with  particular 
wigs.271 

This  description  evidently  written  in  a  humorous  spirit,  is 


271The  Acadian  Magazine,  Halifax,  N.  S.,  July  1826,  Vol.  1,  No.  1,  p.  168. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  101 

nevertheless  suggestive  of  the  manner  in  which  our  early 
schools  were  managed  and  the  kind  of  teaching  that  prevailed 
about  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Nevertheless 
those  quaint  teachers  graduated  from  their  schools  spirits  of 
force  and  determination  whom  we  admire  today  as  the  found- 
ers of  our  country  and  its  institutions. 

Catholic  Education. — On  account  of  the  proscriptive  char- 
acter of  the  school  law  of  1766,  Catholics  in  Nova  Scotia  were 
for  many  years  deprived  of  the  benefits  of  education.  Among 
the  French  people  still  in  the  country  its  effects  were  particu- 
larly disastrous.  Their  priests,  who  might  at  least  teach 
them  the  catechism  of  their  church  and  at  the  same  time  ac- 
quaint them  with  a  few  items  of  secular  knowledge,  were  al- 
lowed to  visit  them  only  under  the  most  particular  super- 
vision.272 In  the  peninsula  alone  the  French  numbered  ap- 
proximately 2,600  in  1764.273  In  rare  cases,  as,  for  instance, 
at  Lunenburg  where  they  mingled  to  some  extent  with  the 
Calvinists,  they  acceded  to  the  promptings  of  Government  and 
sent  their  children  to  the  English  schools.  As  a  rule,  how- 
ever, they  were  sceptical  of  the  English  schools  and  looked 
upon  them  more  or  less  as  a  menace  to  their  faith. 

The  disabilities  imposed  on  Catholics  by  various  regulations 
were  considerably  ameliorated  in  the  years  following  1780. 
A  measure  passed  by  the  Local  Legislature  in  1786  repealed 
the  sections  of  the  school  law  of  1766  exposing  Catholics  to 
liability  of  fine  and  imprisonment  for  venturing  to  set  up  a 
school.  In  substitution  for  the  revoked  clauses,  the  injunc- 
tion was  attached  that  nothing  in  the  current  act  was  to  be 
construed  "to  extend  to  the  permitting  any  popish  person, 
priest  or  schoolmaster  taking  upon  themselves  the  education 
or  government  or  boarding  youth,  within  this  Province,  to 
admit  into  their  schools  any  youth  under  age  of  fourteen 
years,  who  shall  have  been  brought  up  and  educated  in  the 
Protestant  religion."274  The  measure  afforded  great  relief, 
instituting,  in  fact,  Catholic  educational  emancipation  in  the 
province. 

During  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century,  the  French 


^Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  222,  Doc.  91. 
273Haliburton,  Thomas  C,  op.  cit.,  Vol.  1,  p.  275. 
27*Laws  and  Statutes  of  Nova  Scotia,  1786,  Sec.  3. 


102  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

inhabitants  of  the  district  of  Clare,  in  the  western  part  of 
Nova  Scotia,  had  some  educational  advantages  placed  within 
their  reach  through  the  efforts  of  their  pastor,  Father  Sigogne. 
He  came  to  them  from  France  as  successor  to  Father  Bourg 
in  1799. 

From  the  moment  of  his  arrival,  Father  Sigogne  worked 
strenuously  to  procure  a  systematic  education  for  the  French 
children  of  his  parishes.  To  give  practical  encouragement  to 
parents  he  appointed  persons  to  act  as  catechists  and  to  teach 
reading  and  writing  under  his  supervision.  When  he  could 
get  no  teachers  he  enlisted  the  assistance  of  mothers  of  fami- 
lies as  school  mistresses.  In  the  presbytery  of  his  church  he 
opened  a  sort  of  monastic  school,  where  he  received  boys  and 
girls  as  resident  pupils. 

To  provide  instruction  for  the  older  people,  whose  ignor- 
ance he  deplored,  Father  Sigogne  later  opened  a  Sunday 
school  in  the  church.  Arrangements  were  made  with  the 
schoolmaster  and  three  hours'  instruction  in  the  catechism 
and  method  of  reading  and  writing  were  given  every  Sun- 
day.276 

In  the  parish  of  St.  Peter's,  Halifax,  the  English  speaking 
Catholics,  unable  to  educate  their  children  because  of  the  im- 
poverished condition  of  the  parishoners,  took  advantage  of 
the  concessions  of  1786  to  request  the  legislature  to  grant 
them  permission  to  open  a  school  under  the  supervision  of 
their  clergy  wherein  their  children  would  be  taught  gratis. 
Their  prayer  was  complied  with  and  the  school  established.276 

In  March,  1802,  the  Reverend  Edmund  Burke,  Vicar-General 
for  the  diocese,  petitioned  the  Assembly  praying  the  incor- 
poration, for  educational  purposes,  of  the  Bishop  of  Quebec, 
his  Coadjutor,  Vicar-General  at  Halifax  and  the  superior  of 
the  seminary  of  Ste.  Sulpice  at  Montreal  and  their  successors 
to  enable  them  to  receive  donations  for  the  purpose  of  erect- 
ing a  Catholic  seminary  at  Halifax.  Father  Burke  subse- 
quently modified  his  plan  to  meet  the  more  pressing  need  of 
an  institution  for  the  charitable  education  of  Catholic  youth 


mDagnaud,  Pere  P.  M.,  Les  Francais  du  Sud-Ouest  de  la  Nouvelle 
ficosse,  Valence,  1905,  p.  165;  Pringle,  A.  L.,  The  Home  of  Evangeline, 
London,  p.  232. 

"'Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  301,  Doc.  83. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  103 

of  the  Capital.  His  action  was  sternly  opposed  by  Governor 
Wentwortk,  who  wrote  the  Lords  of  Trade  that  the  Catholics 
of  the  province  were  numerous  "and  increasing  both  in  num- 
bers and  zealous  activity."277  He  also  notified  Father  Burke 
"that  no  School  or  Seminary  of  Education  could  be  exercised 
in  this  Province,  but  such  as  were  conformable  to  the  laws  of 
England,  and  of  this  Province  confirmed  by  His  Majesty."278 
Father  Burke,  nevertheless,  persevered  in  his  work  establish- 
ing the  first  institution  for  the  education  of  Catholic  youth  in 
Halifax. 

Indian  Education. — During  the  period  of  French  ownership 
of  Nova  Scotia,  the  Indians  of  the  maritime  regions  of  Canada 
were  brought  within  the  fold  of  the  Catholic  church  by  the 
mission  work  of  French  priests.  They  entertained,  there- 
after, a  most  remarkable  attachment  for  these  early  mission- 
aries and  when,  after  the  conquest,  these  were  replaced  by 
ministers  of  the  Church  of  England,  the  Indians  were  found 
to  be  altogether  insusceptible  to  the  teachings  of  a  new  creed. 
This  was  so  much  the  case  that  the  government  found  it  ex- 
pedient to  invite  French  priests  from  Quebec  to  continue 
their  work  among  the  tribes  of  the  maritime  provinces.  For 
this  purpose,  Father  Maillard  was  allowed  a  yearly  gratuity 
of  one  hundred  pounds  and  his  successor  half  that  amount.279 
Father  Maillard  was  very  energetic  in  his  efforts  to  improve 
the  education  of  the  Indian,  translating  and  writing,  as  we 
have  observed,  a  catechism  in  the  Indian  dialect  and  an  In- 
dian grammar  and  dictionary.  The  Anglican  clergyman,  Mr> 
Wood,  did  work  of  a  similar  kind  during  his  residence  in  the 
western  districts  of  the  province.  It  is  recorded  that,  in  1769, 
at  a  service  in  St.  Paul's  Church,  a  large  assemblage  of  In- 
dians sang  an  anthem  before  and  after  service.280 

Later,  towards  the  close  of  the  century,  an  effort  was  made 
to  teach  the  Indian  men  husbandry  and  the  women  the  arts 
of  domestic  life.  In  1792,  a  bounty  of  ten  pounds  sterling  and 
twenty  acres  of  land  free  of  quit  rent  for  twenty  years  was 
offered  any  British  subject  intermarrying  with  the  Indians; 
and,  in  1801,  the  provincial  government  began  to  consider  the 

™Ibid.,  Vol.  53,  Doc.  105. 

™Ibid. 

^Reports  on  the  Canadian  Archives,  1894,  p.  320. 

M0Akins,  Thomas  B.,  A  Sketch  of  the  Rise  and  Progress,  etc.,  pp.  21,  22. 


104  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

feasibility  of  offering  small  premiums  to  land  proprietors  as 
an  inducement  to  take  Indian  children  into  their  families  for 
the  purpose  of  giving  them  a  vocational  training.281  About 
this  time  also  a  British  society  offered  a  compensation  to  any 
person  who  should  assume  the  guardianship  of  a  child  of  In- 
dian parentage  and  provide  for  his  education  and  his  in- 
duction into  the  habits  of  domestic  life.282  It  was  not,  how- 
ever, until  near  the  middle  of  the  last  century  that  statutory 
provisions  began  to  be  made  for  the  formal  education  of  In- 
dian children. 

Negro  Education. — The  negro  population  of  Nova  Scotia 
are,  for  the  most  part,  descended  from  slaves  escaped  from 
the  colonies  and  from  negro  servants  who  followed  the  Loyal- 
ists into  the  province.  At  an  early  date  they  established 
themselves  in  settlements  in  various  parts  of  the  country. 
There  were  in  the  peninsula,  in  1784,  approximately  1,232 
negro  servants  and,  in  1791,  422  were  living  in  the  Capital.283 
We  find  the  following  entry  in  the  Governor's  Commission 
Book  for  May  1,  1788 : 

License  of  the  Usual  Tenor  Signed  by  His  Excellency  the 
Lieut.  Governor,  authorizing  Limerick  Isaac  to  Keep  a  School 
at  Halifax  for  teaching  Reading  and  Writing  of  English  to 
the  Black  people  also  to  Read  the  Prayers  to  them  he  appear- 
ing qualified.    This  license  to  continue  during  good  behavior.284 

The  negroes  at  Tracadie,  numbering  about  seventy-five  fam- 
ilies, were  particularly  distinguished  for  their  industry. 
Early  in  their  settlement,  they  engaged  one  of  their  number, 
Demsy  Jordan,  to  act  as  catechist  and  reader.  Jordan's  ap- 
pointment secured  the  approval  of  Bishop  Inglis  who,  along 
with  other  encouragement,  conferred  on  him  a  tract  of  land. 
He  resigned,  however,  at  the  end  of  a  year  and  was  succeeded 
by  Thomas  Brownspriggs.  When  Brownspriggs  abandoned 
the  station,  in  1792,  he  had  a  school  of  twenty-three  negro  chil- 
dren.285 

Another  considerable  settlement  of  negroes  at  Birchdale 
near  Shelburne  had  a  school  established  in  1790  in  which  Col- 


M1Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  348,  Doc.  3;  Vol.  430,  Doc.  iS}/2. 
282Moorsom,    Captain    W.,    Letters    from    Nova    Scotia    Comprising 
Sketches  of  a  Young  Country,  London,  1830,  p.  116. 
2S3Reports  on  the  Canadian  Archives,  1894,  p.  412. 
28*Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  170. 
^Reports  on  the  Canadian  Archives,  1912,  p.  245. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  105 

onel  Bluck  taught.  It  had  an  attendance  of  forty-four  black 
children.286  In  the  same  neighborhood,  James  Leonard  was 
teacher  to  the  blacks  the  following  year.  The  negroes  of  that 
place  were  very  poor,  and  therefore  their  schools  did  not 
thrive. 

Toward  the  end  of  the  century  the  black  population  of  the 
province  was  considerably  increased  by  the  arrival  of  the 
Maroons  from  Jamaica.  A  large  body  of  them  settled  near 
Preston.  They  were  apparently  a  good  body  of  men,  repre- 
senting to  Governor  Wentworth  their  desire  of  being  in- 
structed in  the  Christian  religion  and  of  having  their  children 
taught  reading  and  writing.  The  Governor,  therefore,  in  1796, 
appointed  the  Keverend  Benjamin  Green  their  missionary  and 
enlisted  the  services  of  Mr.  Chamberlain  as  teacher.  Mr. 
Chamberlain,  originally  a  New  Englander,  had  formerly  been 
a  teacher  to  the  Indians  and  seemed  otherwise  to  possess  suit- 
able qualifications  for  the  work.287 

The  Maroons  showed  a  marked  interest  in  learning,  the 
Governor  reporting  in  1797  that  the  Maroon  children  were 
"constantly  at  School  learning  to  read  and  write  with  de- 
cency and  diligence."288  He  expressed  the  hope  that  the  S.  P. 
G.  would  extend  some  assistance  to  the  missionary  and 
teacher.  Writing  to  the  Society  soon  afterwards,  he  stated 
that  nineteen  of  the  Maroon  boys  attending  school  at  Boyd- 
ville  were  examined  publicly  in  the  church  on  Easter  Sunday 
and  "repeated  the  Catechism,  Creed,  Lord's  Prayer,  and  Com- 
mandments with  admirable  precision,  and  read  all  the  lessons 
and  Kesponses  during  the  service  very  correctly."289  In  time, 
however,  the  Maroons  lost  the  spirit  of  industry  and  became  a 
burden  on  the  public.  The  climate  seems  to  have  been  too 
rigorous  for  them  to  withstand.  Accordingly,  following  the 
decision  of  the  government,  they  were  deported  from  the 
province  as  undesirable  colonists. 

The  disposal  of  those  people  is  indicative  of  changes  in  the 
direction  of  a  definite  administrative  policy  for  Nova  Scotia 
developed  in  the  closing  years  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Edu- 
cationally,, the  most  important  achievement  of  this  period  was 


™Ibid.,  p.  239. 

^Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  51. 

™Ibid.,  Vol.  52. 

2MPascoe,  C.  F.,  op.  cit.,  p.  117. 


106  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

the  establishment  of  the  Grammar  School  at  Halifax  and 
Bang's  College  at  Windsor.  The  founding  of  these  institu- 
tions proclaimed  the  dawn  of  higher  education  for  Nova  Sco- 
tia. Apart  from  the  educational  advantages  they  afforded  the 
privileged  few  who  were  in  a  position  to  frequent  their  class- 
rooms, they  served  to  stimulate  educational  thought  all  over 
the  province  leading  to  the  enactment  of  the  school  law  of 
1811,  providing  for  the  establishment  of  several  institutions 
similar  to  the  Halifax  school  and  ultimately  to  the  founding 
of  Pictou  Academy  and  Dalhousie  University. 

For  this  revitalizing  of  the  educational  life  of  the  province 
the  Loyalists  deserve  no  small  share  of  credit.  In  different 
parts  of  the  province  refugees  of  scholarly  tastes  were  agitat- 
ing for  public  schools ;  and  in  the  Pictou  district  Dr.  McGregor 
was  sowing  the  seed  of  an  interest  and  taste  for  learning.  All 
this  had  the  effect  of  creating  a  broader  and  more  lively  in- 
terest in  school  establishment  which  served  to  extend  the 
circle  of  educational  outlook  beyond  the  Capital. 

The  possibility  of  forming  a  general  system  of  education  for 
Nova  Scotia  was  claiming  serious  attention  as  early  as  1788. 
Bishop  Inglis  discusses  the  topic  in  correspondence  of  that 
date,  his  views  bearing  the  support  of  Governor  Dorchester.290 
The  Bishop  saw  the  need  of  a  uniform  system  of  schools  for, 
writing  in  1800^  he  laments  the  unsupervised  nature  of  school- 
teaching  in  the  province  where,  he  avers,  "swarms  of  teachers 
who  are  ignorant  and  fanatical  .  .  .  infest  every  district."291 

By  this  time,  a  gradual  amelioration  of  the  penal  laws  had 
relieved  Catholics  considerably  from  the  severity  of  those 
measures  which  militated  so  iniquitously  against  the  founda- 
tion of  Catholic  schools.  Throughout  the  province  generally 
there  was  manifest  a  more  tolerant  attitude  towards  educa- 
tion for  all  denominations  that  prophesied  well  for  future 
school  development.  Female  school-teachers  also  began  to  be 
considered  before  the  end  of  the  century.  The  first  record  we 
have  of  such  an  appointment  being  made  is  dated  1803  when 
a  Miss  Bailey  was  recommended  for  the  position  of  school- 
mistress at  Annapolis.292 


^Reports  on  the  Canadian  Archives,  1912,  p.  222. 
niIbid.,  p.  284. 
™Ioid.,  pp.  260,  264. 


CHAPTER  V 

EDUCATION   IN   CAPE   BRETON 

The  educational  history  of  Cape  Breton  is  closely  associated 
with  that  of  the  mainland  of  Nova  Scotia.  On  acquisition  of 
the  island  colony  by  Great  Britain  in  1763,  it  became  estab- 
lished as  a  political  appendage  to  the  peninsula  and  so  re- 
mained until  1784,  when  it  was  erected  into  a  separate 
province  and  a  council,  under  the  supervision  of  the  Governor 
of  Nova  Scotia,  appointed  to  administer  its  affairs.  With 
the  abolishment  of  this  relationship  for  a  union  of  the  two 
governments,  in  1820,  the  school  activities  of  both  divisions 
were  combined  to  form  one  integral  educational  system.  Be- 
fore this  event  little  of  outstanding  importance  had  been  done 
to  advance  learning  in  the  island. 

As  it  was  the  policy  of  the  Board  of  Trade  to  reserve  the 
whole  of  Cape  Breton  as  a  supply  station  for  H.  M.  Navy  and 
for  kindred  purposes,  no  freehold  titles  to  land  were  granted 
in  the  island  before  1784.  Consequently,  during  those  years 
its  population  remained  stationary.  In  1766,  the  inhabitants 
numbered  about  one  thousand,  five  hundred  of  whom  were  at 
Louisbourg  and  the  remainder,  chiefly  French,  squatters  in 
diverse  parts  of  the  colony.293  Writing  in  1774,  Governor 
Legge  stated  that  he  could  not  find  any  new  improvements  in 
Cape  Breton  above  what  had  been  done  by  the  French  at  an 
earlier  date.294 

At  Louisbourg,  the  Reverend  Mr.  Kneeland,  chaplain  to  the 
59th  Regiment,  reported  to  the  S.  P.  G.  in  1766,  there  were 
one  hundred  and  twenty  children  under  fourteen  years  of  age. 
He  earnestly  enjoined  the  Society  that  it  make- an  effort  to 
provide  the  settlement  with  a  suitable  teacher.295 

The  commander  of  the  garrison  stated  later  that  had  it  not 
been  for  the  charity  this  gentleman  exhibited  "in  sharing  his 
small  salary  with  the  many  indigent  people  of  the  town  in 
the  winter  season  together  with  maintaining  their  children 


^Reports  on  the  Canadian  Archives,  1894,  p.  269. 
"'Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  44,  Doc.  57. 
"'Reports  on  the  Canadian  Archives,  1894,  p.  269. 


107 


108  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

at  school"  they  would  have  been  destitute  of  all  civil  and 
spiritual  assistance.  This  Mr.  Kneeland  did  without  any  fee 
or  reward  from  the  inhabitants.296  Franklin  advised  in  1768 
that  land  for  the  maintenance  of  a  school  be  reserved  near 
the  settlement.297  Acting  partly  on  this  suggestion,  the  com- 
mander, in  1774,  laid  out  2,500  acres  for  garrison  lots  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  town,  having  in  view  the  possibility  that 
when  the  country  was  better  settled  this  considerable  area 
might  be  acquired  for  the  support  of  an  academy  or  public 
school.298 

In  consequence  of  the  political  changes  of  1784  the  policy 
of  withholding  free  land  titles  from  tenants  in  Cape  Breton 
was  considerably  modified.  Governor  Desbarres,  first  Gover- 
nor of  Cape  Breton,  was  authorized  to  extend  to  the  incoming 
Loyalists  land  concessions  similar  to  those  enjoyed  by  their 
compatriots  in  the  peninsula.299  Sydney  having  been  selected 
as  the  seat  of  government,  the  importance  of  Louisbourg 
thenceforth  declined. 

On  account  of  lack  of  harmony  between  the  administrators 
of  government  and  the  people  and  internal  disagreement  be- 
tween the  officials  themselves,  the  establishment  for  a  decade 
or  more  maintained  but  a  precarious  existence.  The  sur- 
veyor-general stated,  in  1787,  that  "the  settlement  at  Sydney  is 
so  little  advanced  that  both  civil  and  militia  are  living  in  the 
woods."300 

Notwithstanding  those  adverse  conditions,  already  in  the 
previous  summer  Sydney's  first  schoolmaster,  Mr.  Edward 
Pate,  was  conducting  a  private  school  in  the  village  for  the 
benefit  of  children  generally.  For  this  information  the  writer 
is  indebted  to  Mr.  J.  G.  MacKinnon's  volume,  "Old  Sydney."301 
Mr.  Pate's  school  being  private,  no  mention  of  it  is  made  in 
the  state  documents.  We  do  not  know  what  success  he  had 
or  how  long  he  continued  to  give  this  service.  But  in  the 
state  papers  of  Cape  Breton  for  1790,  mention  is  made  of  a 


"'Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  222,  Doc.  47. 

^Reports  on  the  Canadian  Archives,  1894,  p.  269. 

™Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  222,  Doc.  47. 

'"Ibid.,  Vol.  315,  Doc.  4. 

S00Ibid.,  Vol.  332,  Doc.  7. 

,01MacKinnon,  J.  G.,  Old  Sydney,  Sydney,  Nova  Scotia,  1918,  p.  77. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  109 

certain  Hiram  Payne  being  "still  teaching"  in  Sydney,  recom- 
mendation being  made  for  his  induction  as  an  S.  P.  G. 
teacher  with  the  usual  compensation  of  such  an  appointee.302 
With  an  increasing  population  the  services  of  such  an  official 
seem  to  have  been  very  necessary  at  this  time.  According  to 
a  census  taken  there  were  in  that  year  in  the  town  and  county 
of  Sydney,  242  men,  119  women;  106  male  children  under 
fourteen  years  of  age  and  32  over  that  age;  94  female  children 
under  ten  years  old  and  31  above  that  age.303  No  appoint- 
ment, however,  was  made  by  the  Society,  for  in  a  despatch  by 
the  government  of  Cape  Breton  to  the  Board  of  Trade  in  1794 
we  are  informed  that  "the  want  of  the  teaching  of  religion  of 
any  kind  and  of  schools  hinders  the  growth  of  the  island,  nor 
is  there,"  it  states,  "any  medical  or  surgical  attendance."304 

The  unsatisfactory  condition  of  education  in  Cape  Breton 
about  this  time  is  fully  set  forth  in  a  memorandum  prepared 
and  laid  before  the  Council  meeting  on  June  15,  1795,  by  the 
secretary,  the  Honorable  William  McKinnon.  In  registering 
the  names  of  those  who  expected  to  leave  the  colony  "it  had 
fallen  within  his  observation,"  he  says,  "that  the  want  of  a 
School  has  evidently  interrupted  the  industry  and  retarded 
the  prosperity  of  the  Infant  Settlement,  as  he  can  quote  a 
number  of  valuable  Settlers  who  have  sacrificed  considerable 
improvements  and  quit  the  Government  for  the  express  pur- 
pose of  procuring  education  for  their  offspring,  and  others 
who  from  the  same  motives  recently  advertised  and  are  now 
on  the  Eve  of  Embarkation,  he  is  aware  that  unless  effectual 
steps  are  early  taken  to  procure  a  creditable  and  respectable 
person  of  Abilities  to  instruct  the  promising  youths  that  are 
still  left  on  the  Island  very  serious  loss  will  derive  to  the 
settlement  by  the  departure  of  men  and  boys  in'  the  course  of 
another  year.  He  had  examined  the  records  and  found  no 
trace  of  an  application  or  representation  having  been  made 
to  Government  or  the  Lord  Bishop  of  London  on  this  interest- 
ing subject.  He  had  lately  been  given  to  understand  by  the 
Reverend  Ranna  Cossitt,  Parochial  Minister  of  this  Island, 

S0-8tate  ^Papers  on  Cape  Breton,  Reports  on  the  Canadian  Archives, 
1895,  p.  31. 
™Ibid. 
t04Ibid.,  p.  54. 


110  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

that  the  Society  for  the  Propagating  the  Gospel  had  never  ex- 
ceeded Twenty  pounds  per  Annum  as  an  allowance  for  a 
schoolmaster."305  The  Council  having  approved  of  the  re- 
port, the  President  was  asked  "to  represent  the  lamentable 
situation  of  the  Island  in  this  respect  to  his  Majesty's  Minis- 
ters in  hopes  that  an  effectual  remedy  will  be  applied."306 

On  receipt  of  this  appeal  the  Society  expressed  its  intention 
to  extend  to  the  establishment  in  Cape  Breton  educational 
advantages  similar  to  those  it  provided  for  other  colonial 
settlements.  It  was  prepared  to  grant  immediately  from  ten 
to  fifteen  pounds  for  the  support  of  a  schoolmaster  as  soon  as 
a  suitable  one  could  be  procured.  Secretary  Portland,  who 
transmitted  this  decision  to  the  administrators  in  Cape  Bre- 
ton, further  stated  that  he  would  make  representations  to 
the  Board  of  Trade  that  an  allowance  of  forty  pounds  per 
year  be  henceforth  included  in  the  estimates  for  Cape  Breton 
to  go  towards  paying  the  salary  of  a  schoolmaster. 

As  the  Council  was  not  aware  of  the  presence  in  the  island 
of  a  person  qualified  and  willing  to  accept  the  post  of  teacher, 
it  was  proposed  to  make  application  to  some  of  the  neighbor- 
ing governments  for  one.  At  the  next  meeting  of  the  Coun- 
cil, in  March,  a  proposal  was  made  by  the  Keverend  Banna 
Cossit  that  his  relative,  Mr.  Brenton,  barrack  master,  be 
given  the  appointment.  Mr.  Brenton's  nomination,  however, 
was  not  acceded  to  by  the  Board.  The  following  June  choice 
was  made  of  Mr.  Fox,  then  teaching  in  Cornwallis,  Kings 
County.  This  gentleman  being  unexpectedly  detained,  Tim- 
othy Hogan,  late  of  Newfoundland,  was  put  in  charge  of  the 
school.  In  September,  word  was  received  by  the  Council  that 
the  forty  pounds  annual  grant  had  been  made  and  that  Mr. 
Hogan  would  be  paid  from  the  time  of  his  inception.307 

Mr.  Hogan  seems  to  have  been  retained  as  official  school- 
master for  a  considerable  period.  Fox  came  to  Sydney  and 
taught  for  a  short  time  in  1798  but  voluntarily  relinquished 
the  school  and  left  the  island  permanently  in  1799.308  At  this 
juncture  Kanna  Cossit,  junior,  applied  for  the  position,  but 


""Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  320. 

t0*Ibid. 

™Ibid.,  Vols.  315,  320. 

S08Ibid..  Vol.  321. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  111 

though  the  Council  unanimously  recommended  him  "as  a  fit 
and  proper  person,"  it  would  appear  from  a  communication 
addressed  by  Mr.  Hogan  to  that  body  in  1805  that  the  latter 
was  permitted  to  enjoy  uninterrupted  control  of  the  school 
from  the  time  of  his  induction  in  the  service.  The  teacher 
took  occasion  at  this  time  to  protest  the  action  of  the  Society 
in  withholding  his  grant  for  two  previous  years  when  it  was 
found  he  was  a  Roman  Catholic.  Considering  the  fact  that 
he  had  been  public  schoolmaster  for  several  years,  during 
which  period  he  had  taught  many  poor  children  free  and  had 
taken  the  oath  of  allegiance,  the  Council  decided  to  pay  him 
all  arrears  in  salary.309 

The  number  of  children  of  school  age  in  Sydney  was  greatly 
augmented  in  1802  by  the  arrival  of  a  numerous  band  of 
Scotch  immigrants.  It  was  stated  in  the  Council  meeting  in 
that  year  that  there  were,  among  the  new  arrivals,  95  children 
above  twelve  years  of  age  and  100  under  that  age.  To  secure 
accommodation  for  those  it  was  necessary,  in  1804,  to  erect 
an  addition  to  the  school-building  and  to  provide  it  with  a 
chimney.  Thereafter,  the  Sydney  school  continued  its  ses- 
sions uninterruptedly,  being  in  receipt  each  year  of  forty 
pounds  from  the  Board  of  Trade.310 

Reverend  Mr.  Twining,  who  had  in  the  meantime  been  ap- 
pointed S.  P.  G.  missionary  in  succession  to  Mr.  Cossit,  was 
made  superintendent  of  the  school  in  1806,  receiving  a  salary 
of  about  sixty  pounds  a  year  for  performing  this  service.  The 
schoolmaster  then  was  a  Mr.  Storey,  In  1809,  the  location  of 
the  school  was  changed  and  Mr.  Hill  became  its  master.311 
Two  years  later,  in  1811,  an  agitation  to  establish  a  public 
school  in  the  town  originated  with  the  Commissioners  of 
Provincial  Revenue.  Governor  Nepean  was  asked  to  make  an 
appropriation  of  four  hundred  pounds  to  provide  for  its  erec- 
tion. The  matter  was  deliberated  but  no  action  was  taken  for 
several  years.312 

In  other  parts  of  Cape  Breton  nothing  of  significant  char- 
acter in  the  way  of  school  establishment  was  done  before  1811. 


309  iUd. 

310  md.,  Vol.  321,  p.  182;  Vol.  326,  Doc.  190. 
3ii  IUd. 

s^IUd.,  Vol.  327,  Doc.  67. 


112  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

In  1786,  the  inhabitants  of  the  considerable  French  settle- 
ment at  Arichat  were  granted  liberty  by  Governor  Desbarres 
to  erect  a  schoolhouse  for  the  instruction  of  their  children  ;313 
and  about  1808,  a  tract  of  land  for  school  purposes  was  re- 
served by  the  surveyor-general  near  Port  Hood.314 

For  many  years  after  annexation  to  Nova  Scotia  educa- 
tional facilities  in  Cape  Breton  continued  to  be  scanty. 
Thomas  Haliburton,  writing  in  1829,  said  there  were  no 
schools  in  the  island  worthy  of  the  name;  and  Bourinot,  in 
his  history  of  Cape  Breton,  states  that  little  improvement  in 
the  educational  situation  of  the  island  was  achieved  before  the 
enactment  of  the  school  law  of  1865.316 

CONCLUSION 

As  was  stated  in  the  introduction,  the  purpose  of  this  vol- 
ume is  to  trace  educational  progress  in  Nova  Scotia  from  its 
earliest  history  to  1811.  So  much  of  interest,  however,  is  at- 
tached to  the  history  of  school  development  in  the  province 
since  that  time  that  it  seems  desirable,  in  conclusion,  to  make 
a  few  observations  on  the  more  striking  features  developed 
in  our  educational  program  since  that  date.  This  part  of  the 
work  being  but  summary,  attention  will  be  confined  here  to 
legislative  enactments  that  had  to  do  with  the  management 
and  direction  of  our  schools. 

Two  measures  passed  by  the  Nova  Scotia  Legislature  in  the 
year  1811  ushered  in  an  era  of  educational  outlook  and  pur- 
pose essentially  different  from  that  which  preceded  it.  The 
first  of  these  enactments,  relating  to  general  education,  pro- 
vided means  for  the  institution  of  free  public  schools  and  in- 
troduced, for  the  first  time,  the  principle  of  common  school 
support  by  the  method  of  equitable  district  assessment.  Free- 
holders and  persons  enjoying  an  income  of  forty  shillings  or 
more  per  year  in  settlements  and  townships  of  thirty  or  more 
families  were  thereby  empowered  to  raise,  by  subscription  or 
assessment,  not  more  than  two  hundred  pounds  for  the  estab- 


8i3  Reports  on  the  Canadian  Archives,  1905,  Vol.  2,  p.  246. 

8i4  Public  Records  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  321. 

sis  Haliburton,  Thomas  C,  op.  cit.,  Vol.  2,  p.  249;  Bourinot,  J.  G., 
Historical  and  Descriptive  Account  of  Cape  Breton.  Montreal,  1892, 
p.  87. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  11  3 

lishment  and  support  of  a  school.  To  administer  the  affairs 
of  the  institution,  the  inhabitants  were  further  authorized  to 
nominate  six  trustees,  three  of  whom  to  be  subsequently 
chosen  for  office  by  the  Court  of  General  Sessions  of  the  Peace 
for  the  county.  The  trustees  engaged  the  teachers  and  ar- 
ranged for  their  salary.  Every  school  established  under  the 
authority  of  the  act  was  voted  an  annual  subsidy  of  twenty- 
five  pounds  from  the  Provincial  Treasury.  If  organization 
were  secured  by  voluntary  agreement,  instruction  in  the 
school  was  confined  to  the  children  of  those  contributing  to 
its  support ;  if  by  assessment,  its  classes  were  open  to  all  chil- 
dren free  of  tuitional  charge.316 

By  the  Grammar  School  Act  of  the  same  year,  which  had 
reference  to  secondary  education,  every  county  in  the  province 
was  made  a  grant  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  to  help 
procure  and  support  a  grammar  school,  the  required  balance 
to  be  raised  among  the  inhabitants  as  was  the  fund  for  the 
common  school.  Tuition  fees  were  to  be  charged,  but  pro- 
vision was  made  for  the  free  attendance  of  poor  boys  of  the 
district  to  the  number  of  eight.  By  incorporating  in  the  act 
more  detailed  clauses,  these  grammar  schools,  the  prototype 
of  our  present  day  academies,  were  brought  more  immediately 
under  government  supervision  than  the  elementary  institu- 
tions.317 

Another  forward  step  in  school  legislation,  marking  a  dis- 
tinct advance  on  the  provisions  laid  down  in  the  law  of  1811, 
was  taken  in  1826.  Whereas  the  law  of  1811  had  extended 
certain  privileges  and  offered  encouragements  to  school  estab- 
lishments, the  act  of  1826  rendered  compulsory  the  organiza- 
tion of  schools  in  all  districts  of  thirty  families  or  more.  A 
new  official,  the  school  commissioner,  now  appeared,  whose 
principal  duties  were  to  delimit  school  districts  and  examine 
and  license  teachers.  As  the  regulations  of  1811  had  failed 
to  make  provision  for  meeting  the  educational  requirements 
of  districts  containing  less  than  thirty  families,  an  attempt 
was  now  made  to  correct  this  oversight  by  the  insertion  of  a 
clause  providing  for  the  incorporation  of  such  areas  into  the 


sie  Laws  and  Statutes  of  Nova  Scotia,  1811,  c.  8. 
8i7  ibid.,  1811,  c.  9. 


114  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

nearest  district  having  regular  school,  school  in  such  cases 
to  be  kept  alternately  in  each  district.  The  government  grant 
for  distribution  among  the  several  districts  and  counties  of 
the  province  was  also  increased  to  two  thousand  five  hundred 
pounds,  each  division  being  awarded  a  fixed  amount.  A 
notable  feature  of  this  law  was  the  establishment  of  a  mini- 
mum salary  for  teachers  of  fifty  pounds  per  year.318 

The  first  move  towards  centralization  came  six  years  later 
with  the  Act  for  the  Encouragement  of  Schools,  passed  in 
1832.  School  commissioners  were  then  required  to  report  to 
the  Secretary  of  the  province.  This  feature  of  the  Secretary's 
duty  later  developed  into  the  Council  of  Public  Instruction. 
By  removing  some  of  the  benefits  secured  by  observance  of 
the  assessment  method  of  support,  the  law  showed  a  recessive 
tendency  in  favor  of  schools  organized  on  the  voluntary  basis. 
The  Treasury  grant,  however,  was  raised  to  four  thousand 
pounds  and  extra  financial  assistance  provided  for  poor  sec- 
tions. In  districts  where  grammar  schools  did  not  exist  op- 
portunity and  encouragement  were  given  common  schools  to 
expand  their  functions  by  incorporating  into  their  course  of 
study  subjects  appertaining  to  the  curriculum  of  fully  estab- 
lished grammar  schools.319 

The  awakening  of  a  renewed  interest  in  the  conduct  of 
schools  on  the  assessment  plan  was  indicated  by  Governor 
Falkland's  address  at  the  opening  of  parliament  in  1841  in 
which  he  advocated  the  foundation  of  a  school  system  for  the 
province  based  on  the  principle  of  general  assessment.320  The 
Assembly,  though  it  did  not  adopt  the  suggestion,  made  sev- 
eral amendments  to  the  existing  law  and  introduced  some  in- 
novations. It  added  two  thousand  pounds  to  the  grant  of 
1832;  placed  restrictions  on  the  number  of  school-teachers  in 
each  district ;  encouraged  assessment  and,  to  render  the  school 
law  more  effective  and  uniform,  created  the  office  of  General 
Board  of  Education.  An  important  amendment  stipulated 
that  any  school  wherein  the  ordinary  instruction  were  given 


sis /bid..  1826,  c.  5. 
8i9  Ibid.,  1832,  c.  2. 

320  Campbell,  Duncan,  Nova  Scotia  in  Its  Historical,  Mercantile  and 
Industrial  Relations,  Montreal,  1873,  p.  348. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  115 

in  French,  in  Gaelic  or  in  German  would  be  eligible  for  due 
participation  in  the  public  money.321 

As  to  the  condition  of  the  schools  of  Nova  Scotia  during 
those  years,  a  census  revealed  that  in  1835  there  were  530 
schools  in  the  province  with  an  enrollment  of  15,000  pupils 
towards  the  support  of  which  the  people  contributed  twelve 
thousand  four  hundred  pounds.322  In  1847,  the  number  of 
scholars  had  increased  to  thirty-four  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  forty-six,  and  the  people  were  raising  in  school  funds 
nearly  twenty-three  thousand  pounds.323 

With  the  appointment  of  a  superintendent  of  education  in 
1850,  professional  vision  was  brought  to  bear  on  the  educa- 
tional activities  of  the  province.  Under  his  expert  direction, 
the  school  system  of  Nova  Scotia  soon  began  to  show  many  of 
the  characteristics  common  to  it  today.  With  the  creation  of 
the  superintendent's  office,  money  was  for  the  first  time  voted 
for  school  libraries  and  six  hundred  pounds  authorized  to  be 
spent  each  year  for  books  and  maps  for  poor  sections.  The 
ratepayers  were  also  permitted  henceforth  to  elect  their  own 
trustees.324  Four  years  later,  in  1854,  a  normal  school  for  the 
training  of  teachers  came  into  existence.325  The  establish- 
ment of  this  institution  was  a  significant  event  in  the  educa- 
tional history  of  the  province.  Teaching  was  now  organized 
as  a  professional  calling,  uniformity  of  qualification  and  im- 
proved methods  of  instruction  promoted,  and  the  general 
standard  of  education  throughout  the  province  elevated. 

The  most  important  piece  of  school  legislation  the  province 
has  known  had  still,  however,  to  be  enacted.  Despite  the 
many  changes  effected,  the  educational  situation  of  the 
province  in  1861  was  very  unsatisfactory.  The  census  for 
that  year  showed  that,  out  of  a  total  population  for  Nova 
Scotia  of  three  hundred  thousand  over  five  years  of  age, 
eighty-one  thousand  could  not  read.  "Of  the  eighty-three 
thousand  children  between  the  ages  of  five  and  fifteen  there 
were  thirty-six  thousand  who  could  not  read.  The  number 
of  children  attending  school  in  1863  was  only  thirty-one  thou- 


32i  Laws  and  Statutes  of  Nova  Scotia,  1841,  c.  43. 
'"Campell,  Duncan,  op.  cit.,  pp.  306-307. 
»23  ibid.,  p.  367. 

324  Laws  and  Statutes  of  Nova  Scotia,  1850,  c.  39. 

325  ibid.,  1854,  c.  5. 


116  Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811 

sand,  so  that  there  was  in  the  Province  in  that  year  fifty-two 
thousand  children  growing  np  without  any  educational  train- 
ing whatever."326  As  a  remedy  for  the  situation  some  sug- 
gested the  adoption  of  a  policy  of  district  taxation  and  the 
entire  abolishment  of  voluntarism;  others  were  opposed  to  it. 
The  question  was  vigorously  debated  and  became  a  party  is- 
sue. Taking  a  middle  course,  the  party  in  power  in  the 
House  in  1864  passed  legislation  declaring  the  common  schools 
of  the  province  free  to  all  children  residing  in  the  section  and 
emphasizing  the  idea  of  general  assessment.  Provision  was 
also  made  for  the  appointment  of  a  Council  of  Public  In- 
struction.327 

These  measures  were  but  preliminary  to  the  final  step  in  the 
process,  which  was  taken  the  following  year.  Amidst  a  great 
deal  of  popular  excitement  and  powerful  opposition  in  the 
House  the  proponents  of  the  assessment  principle,  in  1865,  se- 
cured the  successful  passage  of  a  measure  making  compulsory 
the  support  of  schools  by  the  method  of  general  assessment. 
Secondary  education  was  also  assumed  completely  as  a  func- 
tion of  government;  the  office  of  inspectorship  was  created 
and  an  extensive  code  of  regulations  for  the  administration 
of  schools  adopted.328 

The  history  of  education  in  Nova  Scotia  since  1865  shows  a 
steady  advance  in  efficiency  of  our  institutions  of  learning. 
With  a  system  of  free  schools  organized  on  the  safe  principle 
of  support  by  universal  assessment,  it  still  remained  neces- 
sary to  provide  such  legislative  machinery  as  would  insure 
attendance  at  those  institutions.  This  was  secured  by  legisla- 
tion passed  in  the  year  1888  which  was  modified  and  perfected 
by  amendments  made  in  1895  and  1915.329  Other  legislation 
passed  since  1865  has  been  more  after  the  nature  of  develop- 
ments of  ideas  embodied  in  existing  school  law  than  out  and 
out  innovations. 

In  the  realm  of  higher  education,  though  Nova  Scotia 
boasts  no  provincial  university  as  such,  a  number  of  denomi- 
national colleges  provide  an  efficient  training  for  its  youth  of 


326  Campbell,  Duncan,  op.  cit.,  p.  427. 

327  Laws  and  Statutes  of  Nova  Scotia,  1864,  May  10. 
Ms  Ibid.,  1865,  c.  29. 

32tlbid.,  1888,  1895,  1915,  caps.  46,  1  and  48,  4,  respectively. 


Education  in  Nova  Scotia  Before  1811  117 

varying  religious  persuasion.  In  addition  to  King's,  Pictou 
and  Dalhousie,  Acadia  College,  Baptist,  was  erected  in  1838; 
St.  Mary's,  Catholic,  in  1841;  Gorham,  Congregational,  now 
defunct,  in  1848;  St.  Francis  Xavier's,  Catholic,  in  1853;  and 
Ste.  Anne's,  Catholic,  in  1890.  In  1876  a  state  university 
was  incorporated  under  the  name  "University  of  Halifax," 
but  it  was  discontinued  within  a  few  years.  However,  Dal- 
housie  University  in  the  non-denominational  character  of  its 
courses  and  administration  may  be  justly  regarded  as  a  state 
institution.  Its  classes  are  open  to  all  students  irrespective 
of  religious  creed.  The  same  thing,  indeed,  may  now  be  af- 
firmed of  all  the  other  educational  institutions  of  the  prov- 
ince. 

On  the  whole  the  quality  of  education  provided  by  the  edu- 
cational institutions  of  Nova  Scotia  compares  favorably  with 
that  obtainable  in  any  of  the  provinces  of  the  Dominion. 
Considering  the  nature  of  the  difficulties  that  hindered  edu- 
cational progress  in  early  days  and  the  comparatively  youth- 
ful age  of  our  organized  school  system  as  compared  with 
those  of  most  countries  of  the  world,  the  present  status  of  our 
schools  reflects  credit  upon  those  who  directed  the  course  of 
our  educational  activities  to  their  present  satisfactory  condi- 
tion. While  in  Nova  Scotia,  as  in  all  modern  states,  certain 
aspects  of  school  life  suggest  room  for  the  introduction  of  new 
methods  and  experiments  in  keeping  with  ever  growing  de- 
mands made  on  schools  incidental  to  kaleidoscopic  social  and 
industrial  evolutions,  these  are  being  introduced  as  occasion 
demands.  The  system  while  wisely  conservative  possesses 
elasticity  sufficient  to  permit  the  free  expression  of  individual- 
ity and  the  introduction  of  new  ideas  and  processes  as  the 
need  for  their  application  becomes  apparent.330 


880For  a  more  complete  account  of  school  development  in  Nova  Scotia 
from  1811  to  the  present  day,  see  the  volume,  "Public  Education  In 
Nova  Scotia,"  by  James  Bingay,  M.  A.,  Supervisor  of  Schools,  Glace 
Bay,  Nova  Scotia,  published  by  the  Jackson  Press,  Kingston,  1919. 


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Roth,  Luther,  Acadia  and  the  Acadians,  3d  ed.,  Utica,  New  York,  1891. 

Spedon,  Andrew,  Rambles  among  the  Blue-noses,  Montreal,  1863. 

Wilson  Isaiah,  A  Geography  and  History  of  the  County  of  Digby,  Nova 
Scotia,  Halifax,  1900. 


VITA 

Patrick  Wilfrid  Thibeau  was  born  at  Thibeauville,  Nova 
Scotia,  in  the  year  1892.  He  received  his  primary  education 
in  the  public  school  of  Cannes  section;  his  scholastic  training 
in  the  academies  at  St.  Peter's  and  Guysborough,  Nova  Scotia. 
He  entered  the  Arts  Course  at  the  University  of  Saint  Francis 
Xavier's  College,  Antigonish,  Nova  Scotia,  in  1913,  graduating 
in  1917  with  the  degree,  B.A.  The  same  year,  as  a  Knights 
of  Columbus  Scholar,  he  entered  upon  graduate  studies  at  the 
Catholic  University  of  America,  Washington,  D.  C,  receiving 
the  M.A.  degree  from  that  institution  in  1918. 


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